Minnesota Ranks 19th in Giving by Individuals

Minnesota ranks 19th among all states for its citizens' charitable giving, according to an analysis by the Minnesota Council on Foundations.

Minnesota ranks 19th in the percentage of 2002 adjusted gross income that its residents gave to charity, as measured by charitable deductions claimed on their tax returns, even though the state ranks just 21st in total population. And the state ranks 16th in terms of total charitable contributions.

These rankings are similar to ones done in past years by such organizations as The NewTithing Group, but are much higher than rankings released recently through a "generosity index" put out by the Catalogue for Philanthropy, which placed Minnesota just 45th in its ranking of individual giving. The difference is due to different research methodologies, according to Council president Bill King. "The rankings by the Catalogue for Philanthropy tend to be more biased against states like Minnesota where a very high percentage of tax filers itemize their deductions," King says. "The Council's rankings, on the other hand, provide a more direct measure of how much of their income people give to charity."

However, King adds that there is no "perfect" method for measuring and estimating individual giving in the country. Charitable contributions claimed on tax returns represent just a portion of all giving by individuals, since these figures do not include contributions from people who do not itemize their deductions on their tax forms. And a person's income is just one measure of their potential capacity for giving.

Using the IRS contributions data as a starting point, the Council estimates that individual Minnesotans gave $3.28 billion to charity in 2002, an increase of 2 percent from 2001 (0.2 percent adjusted for inflation). This follows a decrease of 1 percent in 2001. These figures will be published in the Council's soon-to-be released "Giving in Minnesota" report. 

More Minnesotans appear to be giving to charity over the past few years and their average annual gifts are holding steady, according to the Council's analysis of IRS data. A total of 913,172 Minnesotans claimed charitable contributions on their tax forms in 2002, which is up from 900,813 in 2001 and 869,570 in 2000. The average charitable contribution per return (of those with itemized charitable contributions) was $2,953 in 2002, which is up slightly from $2,929 in 2001 and down from $3,070 in 2000.

Minnesotans gave an average of 2.3 percent of their adjusted gross income to charity in 2002, which is identical to the national average. This percentage increases by income. Minnesotans with less than $20,000 in adjusted gross income gave an average of 0.8 percent of their income to charity, while those earning more than $200,000 donated an average of 3.5 percent of their income to charity.

To download the Minnesota Council on Foundations' state rankings of charitable giving by individuals (PDF, 4 pages), click here.

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