Online Fundraising, Advocacy, and Social Media

Top 10 Most Generous Cities in the U.S.

Written by Allyson Kapin | 2012/2/8

Ever wonder how charitable your city is? You’re in luck because Convio recently released their report on the 273 most generous cities across the United States. Convio analyzed cities with total population of more than 100,000 based on per capita online giving and the total amount donated through the Convio platform.

The average gift size remained steady in 2011 at about $65 with more than $435M donated to charities. The donors in the most generous cities increased their total online contributions by more than 11 percent over 2010, which is pretty impressive considering the tough economy.

To 10 Most Generous Cities

  1. Seattle, WA
  2. Alexandria, VA
  3. Washington, DC
  4. Arlington, VA
  5. Cambridge, MA
  6. Ann Arbor, MI
  7. Berkeley, CA
  8. San Francisco, CA
  9. Bellevue, WA
  10. St. Louis, MO

The biggest movers in the top ten from the 2010 annual ranking are Seattle rising three spaces to number one; Cambridge, MA falling three spaces from number two to number five; and Ann Arbor, MI moving up three spaces from number nine to number six, said Convio.

Least Generous Cities

  1. Pomona, CA
  2. North Las Vegas, NV
  3. Detroit, MI
  4. Newark, NJ
  5. Laredo, TX
  6. El Monte, CA
  7. West Valley City, UT
  8. Miami Gardens, FL
  9. Paterson, NJ
  10. Brownsville, TX

According to Convio Newark, NJ slid 18 spots to #267. Yikes! And Brownsville, TX slid down to the last spot on the list after some upward momentum in 2010. 

How did your city measure up? Check out the full data set here.