Arlington was one of the most charitable locales in the country this year, by one measure.
According to data from Charity Navigator, Arlington residents donated $222,835 through the nonprofit’s Giving Basket. With $1.07 donated per capita, by Charity Navigator’s calculation, Arlington ranked first among “medium cities” that donated through the nonprofit.
Most of these donations were from individual contributors, per a spokesperson.
Silver Spring, Md. took the No. 2 spot in the “medium city” category, which encompasses locales with populations between 200,001 and 500,000. That city donated about $0.86 per capita through the “Giving Basket.” Madison, Wisconsin ranked No. 3 with $0.53 per capita.
Among large cities, Seattle topped the charts at $0.74 per capita, while D.C. was No. 2 at $0.60 and San Francisco was third, at $0.46.
Elsewhere in Northern Virginia, McLean’s $1.27 per capita clocked in at No. 3 among small cities with 50,000 to 200,000 people. No. 1 and 2 in that category were Golden, Colorado and Palo Alto, California, respectively.
None of these numbers hold a candle, however, to donations in a few “mico cities” with less than 50,000 people. The town of New Hope, Pa. (population 2,631) donated $7.99 per person, while Laguna Beach, Calif. (population 22,332) donated $5.24 and Malvern, Pa. (population 3,424) donated $4.59.
The “Giving Basket,” which allows donors to support multiple charities in one checkout, raised a total of more than $35 million this year, according to a Charity Navigator press release.
These donations represent only a small fraction of all charitable donations in the United States. The average individual American donated over $1,100 in 2023, according to data from the National Philanthropic Trust.
Last year, an ARLnow survey of Arlington nonprofits found that nearly a dozen met or exceeded their goals for Giving Tuesday — the day of charity that takes place the week after Thanksgiving. This year’s Giving Tuesday falls on Dec. 3.
