Redemption: 2 Florida Metro Areas Among Nation’s Most Charitable, Study Says

TAMPA, FL — Florida took a beating in two recent studies that called the Sunshine State among the country’s least generous in the charitable giving and volunteerism departments. Two of its metro areas, however, did earn high praise in a third study that touted them as being among the country’s most charitable.

The redeeming study was undertaken by Charity Navigator, an independent watchdog organization that sizes up nonprofits across the country. The group’s number crunchers looked at the financial health, accountability and transparency of 30 of the country’s largest philanthropic markets to create a ranking of the top charitable cities. When all was said and done, Houston was named America’s most charitable city. Tampa/St. Petersburg, however, scored third-place honors while Miami came in seventh. No other Florida cities made the Top 10.

Charity Navigator’s study was based on data the organization collected from individual charities’ tax forms and information posted on their websites. An overall score was given based on financial metrics and metrics related to accountability and transparency.

See also: Florida Among Nation's Least Generous States: Study

While Tampa and Miami earned Top 10 rankings, Orlando didn’t fare quite as well. That city came in 20th place with an overall ranking score of 87.80, which was just above the national average of 87.64. Cincinnati, Ohio, came in last place.

Researchers also pointed out these interesting facts about charities and charitable giving in the Sunshine State:

• Charities in the Tampa, St. Petersburg area scored among the highest “for their commitment to being accountable and transparent.”
• Charities in Tampa and St. Petersburg joined those in Cleveland, Ohio, for enjoying higher scores for overall financial health than those in Seattle and Colorado Springs.
• Tampa and St. Petersburg charities had the highest percentage (51 percent) of organizations that have written donor privacy policies.
• The Tampa/St. Petersburg area has more animal (11 percent) and health (19 percent) charities.

See also: Volunteers Provide $184 Billion in Service; How Tampa Bay Stacks Up

While Charity Navigator says two of Florida’s biggest metro areas are among the country’s most giving, WalletHub ranked the Sunshine State on the whole as one of the least giving in a recent study. WalletHub’s study focused on charitable giving and volunteerism. Florida came in 44th place out of all 50 states in that study.

WalletHub’s findings in regard to volunteerism track with a recently released report issued by the Corporation for National & Community Service. That organization’s Volunteering and Civic Life in America report showed that Florida came in 50th place for volunteerism out of 51 ranked areas. The Tampa Bay area, however, did have a slightly better showing than the state as a whole. It had a volunteer rate of 21.8 percent.

To check out Charity Navigator’s full study, visit the organization online.

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