Do You Live in the Most Generous County in Nevada?

You may know the Nevada State Motto*, the State Song**, and perhaps even our Nevada State Fossil,*** but do you know which counties in Nevada are the most generous?  You may be surprised. I recently read an article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy about how America gives, broken down by county. Nevada’s most generous county is Lincoln, giving more than 4% on average of residents' taxable income.  Lincoln County is home to Nevada towns: Alamo; Castleton; Pioche; and one city, Caliente. The next most generous Nevada counties follow in a three-way tie, with White Pine, Churchill,  and Mineral Counties each giving about 3.5%.  Pershing and Eureka Counties are listed as per capita giving of under 3% on average, and also Clark is in this category.  Washoe, Nye, and Elko Counties come in at just under 2.5%.  The remaining six counties are all under 2%.  If you’re curious about our neighbors in California, the most generous California county is Siskiyou County, up by the Oregon border.  I was quite surprised to see how the Nevada counties ranked. I believe the Community Foundation to be instrumental in raising Washoe County’s ranking by helping people be more generous. The Community Foundation encourages generosity by: 1. Connecting people to causes they care about. 2. Helping citizens learn about the tax advantages of smart giving. 3. Communicating the positive benefits of charitable gifts to our community and to future generations of Nevadans. To do a charitable ranking search, here is the link: https://philanthropy.com/interactives/how-america-gives#search Last Tuesday, the Community Foundation received in the mail a large envelope filled with hundreds of thank-you notes from the students at Brown Elementary.  We have never been so sweetly thanked for a grant. The students' efforts made quite an impression on our staff and on our Board and Professional Advisor Council at our annual holiday dinner on Wednesday night.****  Every student in the school wrote notes, colored pictures, assembled thank you books, and made posters expressing their thanks for the small grant that helped acquire a computer for the school. The expressions of thanks were so cute and heartfelt that we were touched.  It was a significant reminder of the importance of thanking donors for the generous gifts they make.  Today many of us are thinking about Brown Elementary and perhaps what else they may need. We learned that a creative or heartfelt thanks is more appreciated than a standard formal thank you letter. As you read this, the Christmas holiday is less than three weeks away and the end of the year is closing rapidly.  Should you or a friend/client wish to do some charitable gifting before the end of the year, please give me a call. Thanks again for all you do to support the Community! Chris Askin, President & CEO.  775-762-1932 *“All for Our County”   ** “Home Means Nevada”  *** Ichthyosaur**** A seething mass of good hearted people having a great time.