Survey finds North Dakotans give less
August 20, 2012 at 4:24 pm in Grand Forks Herald
A new survey of Americans’ generosity shows North Dakotans have the most per household, but are among the least of these when it comes to giving to charity as a percentage of income. Continue Reading
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Keeping “your” money in “your” pocket is ABSOLUTELY better than giving it to parasites who will do nothing useful, but will breed anyway and therefore assure that the next generation of deadbeats is even larger and more helpless than the current generation of deadbeats.
I have no hope that the “survey” was done with appropriate controls/methodology so as to produce a result that has any accuracy or meaningful outcome. It seems that the survey flaws are so blatant as to be reported in the paper along with the “results”. Pretty obvious how little credibility the survey has.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Yeah, that rural ambulance service is such a parasite… (sarcastic tone).
There are honest and worthy places to donate money. local Search and Rescue units, 4-H, ambulance, etc.. Ask questions and inquire and you will find the ones that are worth putting some of your hard earn’s money into.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Well it has been said that Nodaks are tighter with money than trees are with bark….
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Yes. Unless it comes to booze and cigaretes.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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The problem with the study is self evident. Less than 40% itemize nationwide and the rate is even less in North Dakota. We give to charities both in time (not accounted for) and money, but being debt free, we haven’t been able to itemize in years.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that we in the upper midwest are more generous than ANYWHERE in the US. First of all, we give of our time….relentlessly. We also give to every worthy cause. It might be for a person in the community with cancer (who we may or may not even know). It might be for a church group to go to a youth gathering. It might be for a new swimming pool. I have seen people who have very little give a lot for something they consider important to the community.
It may be only a few dollars here and a few dollars there. We don’t report it on our taxes, because it’s not a lot in one place or we don’t keep track or are too modest to “brag” about our giving on our taxes. Whatever the case, if we added it all up, it is a lot. But that is just typical of the people in this area. They don’t look to be rewarded for giving. The gift itself is a reward. This study simply looks at those people who REPORT what they have given so it isn’t a true picture of generosity.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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In response to Melody Olstad; You have described how North Dakotan’s give and this is exactly the same way people in MS give. Many in MS have no need to do a tax return.
I was born and raised here…lived in the region most of my life…I have lived in MS for 12 years…I feel this report is pretty close to accurate. MS has a very small group of ‘haves’…which is opposite of ND or this region of the country. Those with little tend to give more out of empathy with the feeling of ‘been there’…not the attitude of wanting to help ‘the needy’.
MS has a political system run much the same as ND but without the vast resources, even before the “oil boom.” Many of the school districts in MS have a 65% poverty level. Housing is cheaper, gas is cheaper, seafood (if still safe to eat) is cheaper. Food & drink, eating in or out, costs more. Average restaurant burger $8.00+, average soda (pop) $3.00, average beer $3.00+, average bar pour $4.50+ doesn’t matter if your at the local munie, mom & pop or chain, fewer and shorter ‘happy hours’. Liquor is all State run with permits and limits to bars and restaurants (kind of like rationing per month). Insurance for anything costs more. Everything retail costs more and is taxed. Car tags and taxes are more. Catholic school $6000.00+/yr.
The most progressive areas of the state are the very north near Memphis and the very southern Coastal region. You can get to know the Gulf Coast Region at Sun Herald.com.
In my view…it’s easier and less stressful to live anywhere in the upper Midwest. So much poverty and the high cost of living in MS has an affect on the whole area population. LG in North Dakota.
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Anyone who works (or has worked) in the service industry (here in ND), can certainly attest to how TIGHT most of the area’s population is. This is hardly ‘news’ to long time residents.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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ND folks are the most clumsy, ND folks give to charities the least; when you deal with a small statistical population you get these skewed graphical data points. Put a curve on these numbers and ND will be far from the bottom/top on any of these. I have never heard anyone from ND have to use the great southern excuse of, “we are higher/lower than Mississippi”.
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Charity should be voluntary and free from the effects of shame or guilt. It should also involve knowledge of where the money goes. I used to contribute to Minnesota Public Radio, until I found out the head honcho made 650K a year and the top 15 execs were in the six figures. I now check out the percentage which goes to salaries and administration. As for the parsimony of NoDakers, ask a waitress.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Good point. Any donations should be preceded by a review of their expense ratio. One in particular is how much they spend on trolling for money versus how much they actual use to meet their stated objectives.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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I give to small groups which operate on a shoestring and dedicate the vast majority of the funds to their stated purpose. Compare them to the big national groups with offices on Park Ave NYC or Pennsylvainia Ave DC. The latter exist to enrich their overpaid administrators.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Like the Red Cross.
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Yeah, right. They’d love to bleed me.
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I was once hit up by some “national policemen’s organization” Found out 90% of the contributions went to the company hired to make the calls.
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Most of the people I know, give money & time for charity.
There are many local organizations (volunteer fire dept., churches, PTO/PTA, sport boosters, ladies aid, etc.) that exist on volunteers. Many donated hours go towards charitable causes in this state.
Many charities cannot afford to hire staff to carry out their mission, so volunteers step forth to donate their manpower.
If any group says we NoDaks do not donate time and money to charity, then they have not been here during flooding. I was in GF during the flood of 97 and there was alot of volunteering, even if it was taking in strangers to give them a place to stay. I would imagine the Minot flooding had the same going on with people helping to evacuate, house people and cleanup.
If anywone says we NoDaks are not giving, have them come here during the flooding and see all the people sandbagging!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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People that came to Minot from other parts of the country to help after the flood asked where everybody went whose homes were destroyed. They were quite impressed when we told them the neighbors took many of them in. The same in the Forks after the flood. We give…we just don’t talk alot about it.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Another moderation so I’ll change the wording.
On the other hand, it could be an eyeopener to mindsets. My wife and did 12 hour stints on the sandbagging line during the 1997 flood in GF. When the others heard we weren’t born here, they proclaimed us “Honorary Citizens of Grand Forks”, even though we’d lived her over a decade and helped fill both the city and state coffers in that time.
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On the other hand, it could be an eyeopener to mindsets. My wife and did 12 hour stints on the sandbagging line during the 1997 flood in GF. When the others heard we weren’t born here, they proclaimed us “Honorary Grandforkers”, even though we’d lived her over a decade and helped fill both the city and state coffers in that time.
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Per capita ND has lots of millionaires. Apparently these folks plan on taking it with them. Its always the folks who can afford to give that keep thier money in a room so they can count it. When they die they will be quickly forgotten. Its guys like CHester Fritz and Ralph Englestad that we will remember for giving back to the community.
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Many of the millionares are farmers like Dalrymple, who collect big subsidies. As for Fritz and Ralph, yeah, they gave back, but read up on how they made their bucks.
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Cough it up, ya cheap ********! Maybe if you spent more time working and less time quitting your union jobs, you wouldn’t be labeled as cheapskates!
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