Utah ranked number one in U.S. for charitable giving

A Gallup poll ranks Utah first in the nation for its residents' generosity, donating time and money to charity. Photo courtesy Utah Office of Tourism.

<span>SALT LAKE CITY – Utahns are the most generous Americans in terms of donating their time and money to charity, according to the latest </span><a href=”http://www.gallup.com/poll/168923/utahans-likely-donate-money-time.aspx%22″ target=”parent”>Gallup poll</a><span>. In the poll, 71 percent of respondents said they have donated money in the past month, while 56 percent said they volunteered in the past 30 days. </span>

<span>Fraser Nelson, who heads the nonprofit Community Foundation of Utah, says she is not surprised by the poll’s findings.</span>

<span>”I think that Utah has philanthropy just deep in its bones,” Nelson says. “Our state was founded by people who gave in their community, and I’m not talking about the Mormon pioneers, I’m talking about our Native American community, which was always one of great community resource-sharing.”</span>

<span>The national telephone poll, involving at least 600 adults, also found that almost half of Utahans – 48 percent – report having donated both their money and their time in the past month.</span>

<span>Nelson says since its founding in 2008, the Community Foundation of Utah is a good example of Utah’s generous spirit.</span>

<span>”We have grown incredibly fast and gained a lot of national attention for not only the rapidness of our growth in terms of our asset base – from zero to over $30 million in five years – but also in terms of the number of people that are participating,” she says.</span>

<span>According to the Gallup poll, Minnesota, Hawaii, South Dakota and New Hampshire round out the nation’s top five most generous states. </span>

<span>The poll is available at </span><a href=”http://www.gallup.com/poll/168923/utahans-likely-donate-money-time.aspx%22″ target=”parent”>www.gallup.com</a><span>.</span>

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