Are We Stingy?

A study by the Boston-based Catalogue for Philanthropy, released last week, says that Massachusetts is the second most stingy state in the nation (New Hampshire is first). (The different headlines about this from around the country are amusing. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette says, "Index Ranks Bible Belt Most Charitable Region;" the Globe, meanwhile, declares, "Mass. Generous After All, Study Finds.") Of course, people have quickly stepped up to attack the Catalogue of Philanthropy's methods and defend the Commonwealth. The Boston Foundation crunches the numbers differently and puts the Bay State at 11th in the country, accounting for various factors that the C.F.P. maybe didn't (don't ask us - Bostonist fears math). According to the Boston Foundation, the C.F.P.'s Generosity Index is weighted to favor poor states, so rich states like Mass. get a raw deal. Bostonist also thinks some allowance should be made for the fact that in some states (like ours), much more care is dispensed to needy people by the government, while in other states (like those in the Bible-belt) private and religious charities take up much more slack (see here, here, and here, for example). Or maybe Massholes really are stingy, and Bostonist and the Boston Foundation are just engaging in sour grapes when we should be sending money to orphans.