Season of Giving: Is New Jersey a generous state?

Tamara Walker, Asbury Park Press
·1 min read

With GivingTuesday days away, donating money or time to an organization can be fruitful.

In the latest study done by Forbes Advisor on, The Most and Least Generous States, New Jersey is on the list, but the rankings aren't so ... generous.

To determine the most charitable states, Forbes Advisor compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across seven metrics that included: the state’s charitable giving rate, formal volunteer rate, informal helping rate, the number of charities per capita and the changes in the rates from 2019 to 2021.

According to the report, New Jersey ranks as the No. 10 least generous state. Here are the results:

New Jersey Score: 27.98 out of 100

  • New Jersey ranked seventh-lowest for the formal volunteer rate at 19.90%.

  • The state also ranked 10th-lowest for the informal helping rate at 47%.

  • It ranked 15th-lowest for the number of charities per 1,000 residents (nearly 8).

  • The Garden State ranked 23rd-lowest for the charitable giving rate at 51.10%.

The top three most generous states are Iowa with a score of 100 out of 100, Minnesota had a score of 99.84 out of 100 and Montana came in with 99.22 out of 100.

What is GivingTuesday?

GivingTuesday is the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year, that is Nov. 28. It is a global generosity movement created in 2012 that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.

How to participate?

Here are a few ways to show generosity in the community:

  • Support local social organizations, mutual aid networks, community organizers and nonprofits.

  • Combat loneliness by reaching out to a relative, seniors, or veterans.

  • Do an act of kindness or help a neighbor.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: How generous are New Jerseyans? Nationwide study ranks each state