Bay Area wealthy are less giving - Study finds affluent of L.A. donate nearly twice as much

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 12/26/6 | George Raine

[SmithL]

Los Angelenos are the most generous people in California when it comes to giving to charities.

Affluent people in the Southern California metropolis gave almost twice as much as their counterparts in the Bay Area and other parts of the state in 2004, according to a new report.

The study was conducted by the San Francisco philanthropic research organization NewTithing Group, based on 2004 tax data, the most recent available. It found that of Californians earning $200,000 or more, the median income tax filer in Los Angeles County gave most generously, donating nearly $5,000. That was roughly 1 percent of the median filer's investment asset wealth.

By contrast, the median affluent tax filer in the Bay Area, excluding Silicon Valley, gave $3,536, which represented roughly 0.5 percent of that filer's $680,774 in investment wealth.

Median giving as a percentage of investment assets for tax filers in Silicon Valley was a bit lower than in the rest of the Bay Area, but also roughly 0.5 percent. Affluent tax filers in Silicon Valley had a median of about $600,000 in investment assets and median charitable contributions of $2,800.

The Bay Area and Silicon Valley did better when the average giving rather than median was considered, with the valley coming out ahead of the rest of the state. The study said that was due to the extraordinary generosity of a small number of donors, which skewed the average.

[martin_fierro]

Time to ante up, ya tightwads.

< |:)~

[2banana]

Liberals ALWAYS give much less than conservatives. It is a religious vs government thing...

[Mo1]

It is a religious vs government thing...

Yep .. libs think the government is a religious charity

[jslade]

AIDS treatments are costly!

[GSlob]

So? In matters of charity, the left hand ought not to know whose pocket the right hand is picking. The likes of that George Raine must be continuously reminded that even one cent donated is one cent more than the donor had to donate.

[Mr. Jeeves]

I gave at the IRS. ;)

[Drango]

A liberal's compassion is limited only by the size of someone else's wallet.

[SmithL]

My time and money go to the Scouts and my church.

[VictoryGal]

Did they take cost of living into account? The rent and house prices here are insane. Not trying to make excuses for the libs-- just me. :-)

I already feel bad being surrounded by libtards-- you're not going to make me feel guilty about this issue! ;-)

[Tax-chick]

That was roughly 1 percent of the median filer's investment asset wealth.

I wonder how they know what the median filer's investment asset wealth is. You don't have to report that on your 1040 Sch. A, as you do your charitable contribution deduction.

Also, it's possible that the alternative minimum tax caused filers in that income bracket to understate their total charitable contributions.

[lady lawyer]

Speaking of philanthropy, I've been thinking about that topic a lot lately.

My sister, who has leukemia, is in the City of Hope, where she just received a stem cell transplant. I traveled from Utah to California to see her ten days ago, because she was having a crisis. She chose the City of Hope for the transplant, even though she lives in Utah, because it is one of three places in the country that do hundreds of transplants a year, and is equipped to and experienced in dealing with the myriad of problems that can arise following a transplant.

I grew up in Los Angeles, but I had never been to the City of Hope campus, which is beautiful, and state of the art.

One thing that is unusual is that on every surface, every nook and cranny, every corner of the grounds, there are plaques with the names of donors. Almost all of those names appear to be Jewish. I was reminded that some of my Jewish neighbors were involved in one way or another with the City of Hope. It has been an important philanthropy for LA synagogues for decades, I would imagine.

In any event, my sister turned a corner, the transplant has grafted, and she probably owes her life to the generous Southern California Jewish community that built that amazing place.

I feel very grateful.