New Ranking Shows that St. Louisans are Uncharitable
Will it ever stop??? How long will St. Louis have to endure being a perpetual bottom-feeder on all those national rankings of good things like health and beauty and traffic? For Christ's sake, people, will you quit confusing us with the marine life that populates our beloved Mississippi River?
Dan Zettwoch
Now, in addition to being ugly and traffic-bound and afflicted with all manner of sexually-transmitted diseases, St. Louis is, according to a new study by an organization called Charity Navigator, among the least charity-conscious cities in the U.S. That's right, we're ungenerous, too!
Well, OK, we rank 20th of 30 major metropolitan areas, sandwiched between Chicago and Phoenix. Still. Kansas City is fifth. What have they got that we haven't?
Charity Navigator's rankings are slightly confusing (unless, of course, a new study comes out next week "proving" that St. Louis residents, particularly St. Louis newspaper reporters, are dumber than the average American). The total revenue generated by St. Louis-area charities, $6,483,419, is significantly higher than the national average of $5,207,037, while their total expenses are slightly lower than average ($4,841,996 versus $4,869,051). For sake of comparison, number one Pittsburgh generated $6,984,979 while spending $6,626,923.
The survey also found that more than half of St. Louis' charities are devoted to human services and education. For more exciting numbers, click here.
Said Ken Berger, President & CEO of Charity Navigator, in a press release:
In these difficult economic times, we know many Americas have to make tough choices regarding their ability to make charitable donations. Likewise, the professionals leading our nation's charities must decide how to best utilize donations to achieve maximum social impact while retaining enough funds to sustain operations beyond the recession. This study offers information that can help both donors and nonprofit leaders understand the financial strengths and weakness of each philanthropic marketplace and thus assist them in navigating through this challenging time.
So they just want to advise us where to donate our money? Oh, hell. Why do we even bother getting outraged anymore?
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