Shaun Groves
This is a tale of two zipcodes–and the relationship between how much we have and how much we give.
Spindale & Arlington
Spindale is a rural community in North Carolina speckled with mobile homes and blanketed in kudzu. Arlington, Virginia’s miles of exclusive neighborhoods, shopping centers, and office complexes neighbor the capital and are home to many who work there.
There wasn’t a church in Spindale able to host a concert so the woman who brought me there to sing borrowed a school cafeteria for the night. Just the week before she’d put together a benefit for a woman in town in need of leukemia treatment. Though unemployment in the area was in double digits, the community had risen to the occasion and given generously to their neighbor in need. And just one week later the same people gathered together again to hear me sing and speak on behalf of impoverished children around the world.
My hosts in Arlington put me up in a top-notch hotel, catered a delicious meal for me, and hired a production company to bring additional sound and lights into the church’s already well-outfitted sanctuary.
The people who packed into that cafeteria in Spindale loved Jesus. So did the crowd in Arlington. But one group was the most generous I’ve encountered in all my years as an ambassador for Compassion International. And one was the least.
Wealth & Generosity By The Numbers
Name any event at which I’ve asked a crowd to sponsor children and I can tell you what percentage of them did. Trends and correlations have emerged as I’ve accumulated this data over the last seven years.
For instance, the larger the crowd the smaller the percentage who will give. People are more generous indoors than outdoors. Less than 10 minutes of speaking is less productive than more. Preaching a thirty minute sermon on Sunday morning will yield more sponsorships than anything else. And wealthy highly educated zip codes routinely give less than the poorest and least educated.
Practicing Generosity
Why this tends to happen (there are wonderful exceptions!) is up for debate. One theory is that when the richest gather together in one place they become a kind of ghetto – isolated and insulated from everyone who isn’t rich. The wealthiest of these ghettos–like Arlington, VA–are called “Super Zips”, a name given by Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute.
Someone living in a Super Zip is extremely unlikely to encounter an impoverished person in their daily routine. This lack of exposure to the materially needy may decrease Arlington’s empathy for and generosity toward the poor in general.
But in Spindale need is ever-present. Generosity may be something we get better at with practice – and the people of Spindale get lots of practice.
Are you living in a Super Zip or are you surrounded by opportunities to practice generosity close to home? Find out how well-off your zip code is.
Tracie Ligon Collier says:
What a treat to see Spindale, NC featured in your post! That is the town my Grandma Bonnie lived in for almost her whole life. That is such a sweet town! It always reminded me of a “Mayberry” type of place where everybody knew everybody and if someone needed something, they didn’t need it for long…folks were always helping each other out. When Grandma Bonnie had a stroke, her neighbors became her caretakers while she recovered. They were amazing!
What a sweet reminder to practice generosity today!
Thank you!
Tracie
Shaun Groves says:
Grandma Bonnie was a fortunate woman to live in the midst of so much generosity. Thanks for stopping by!
Kelli says:
This is really interesting, and also so convicting! There’s a lot to chew on in those statistics.
Katie Axelson says:
I got to present Compassion Sunday at a church in a town not unlike Spindale, actually only one county away. While the outcome wasn’t the biggest proportional event I’ve been part of, I was still amazed at the response. It makes me proud of my middle-of-nowhere-NC years.
Shaun Groves says:
I’m in North Carolina more than any other state. And, in general, it’s a generous place. Not a single exception in my experience there over the years.
Mara says:
Very interesting. I also read the linked article. I agree that there is more of life in a bubble than ever before. But I’m concerned that not answering an emotional appeal is deemed to be a sign that a community is not generous. Speaking from our experience, we plan our giving carefully, after full investigation of the charity and prayerful consideration. We budget for regular giving and have some leeway in our budget for spontaneous giving- disaster relief, misc. fundraisers, etc. I would be interested to know if what charitable giving is based on tax returns per zip code. Granted, not every tax return does itemized taxes. (My area: $83,072 Median household income, 34% College graduates)
Shaun Groves says:
Mara, is not an accurate assumption that every appeal is emotional. Some time soon I hope to write about the three dimensions of an effected appeal – the emotions are just one. I hope my appeals are balanced.
But you’re right that it’s not a good practice to make generalizations about a community based on one event. The data I have spans seven years and more than 600 cities across North America. That’s a sample size large enough to spot some dominant trends….and that’s all…with admitted exceptions.
Your last suggestion is a great one! I’d also like to see charitable giving data by zip code based on tax returns. I’ll see if I can hunt that down for us.
Shaun Groves says:
OK, I found the tax return data you were interested in. It’s fascinating.
My source is philanthropy.com. Their source is tax returns.
I looked at the average % of income given to charity by zip codes for Arlington, VA and Spindale, NC
Arlington:
Income of $50K – 99,999 gave 12.8%
Income of 100K – 199,999 gave 3.5%
Income of 200K and upward gave 2.2%
Average for zip code = 3.9%
Spindale:
Income of $50K – 99,999 gave 9.7%
Income of 100K – 199,999 gave 15.3%
Income of 200K and upward = Not Applicable
Average for zip code = 9.8%
So by percentage of income given, according to tax returns, Arlington, VA’s zip code was out given by about THREE TIMES(!) by the much poorer zip code of Spindale, NC.
Shaun Groves says:
Added annual charity giving as percentage of annual income to the graphic in this post. Thanks, Mara for making this post better with your fantastic input!
Mara says:
That college course on research design I was required to take for my degree was of some use after all!
Mara says:
thanks for the link. I looked up my zip and BOTH of your examples beat my zip code, as well as my state’s average. Yikes!
Nancy Tyler says:
Wow, didn’t know you’d been to Arlington VA!
I know the giving patterns in general of the wealthy vs those who are less so tend to hold across the country, but I’m curious whether you see that pattern hold among wealthy congregations in the Bible Belt vs similarly wealthy congregations in the the mid-Atlantic or Northeast like this Arlington congregation.
Suburban DC is really an odd place. The super zips tend to be the homes of high government officials, diplomats and political-types, tech executives, old money and young go-getters, and the culture can get pretty jaded and self-interested. I often struggle with dealing with that part of living around here. But I love the international makeup of the area. Something like a quarter of Arlington County’s population is foreign-born. It’s even higher where I live. It’s common to be in line at CVS down the street and hear the five customers/families in front of me speaking five different languages. The local high school has kids from nearly 100 countries. Living in such a cross-cultural area in between the super zips has grown my heart for the world so much!
Shaun Groves says:
I know that DC has the largest Ethiopian community in the U.S. I didn’t realize there were so many other people groups represented there as well. Kinda counterintuitive huh? I mean, I’d think rubbing shoulders with people from so many other countries would make people more aware of needs around the world, more empathetic, maybe even more generous. In my extremely limited experience that doesn’t seem to be the case – but what’s your experience over the years been?
Nancy Tyler says:
There are large Salvadoran, Korean and Vietnamese communities near me as well, and the local mosques are filled with the faithful from Africa, Asia and elsewhere.
Becoming increasingly involved in cross-cultural friendships beginning in elementary school, and as an adult in church, my neighborhood, at work and in ministry to international college students and to South and Central American gang kids has grown my love for the world. When I was younger, I was so bored when missionaries came to speak at church. Now, I’m on the edge of my seat and teary-eyed and looking for ways to support their work. All the glory to God for growing my vision beyond myself.
Next time you’re in the greater DC area, remember that you have an old friend here who can give you a tour of the 222- and 220- zip codes, super and otherwise, and can point you to some great food from nearly any country you can name.
Christine Doe says:
The median income in my county is a little over $37,000 (38% college grads). We sponsor two children and write to two more. I can tell you in all certainty that this wouldn’t be the case if we didn’t struggle so much ourselves. No dinners out, no vacations, no movies out, no new clothes, etc. We know what it’s like to depend on God, and we know the money we commit to Compassion will come from God, not from us–even gift money once a year.
If you are well off, you often think it’s because you made all the right decisions. It’s hard not to feel that way. When you don’t have an immediate need for God’s power and mercy–money for fixing the only van you have to cart around four children, for example–you don’t build as much faith. The Lord proves over and over, as he meets your needs, that He loves you. That He is faithful. That when you seek first his Kingdom, he keeps the manna coming.
I think it’s more about faith than generosity. We aren’t being generous by sponsoring two children. We’re acting on faith and obedience. The generosity is God’s.
Shaun Groves says:
Reminds me of Proverbs 30:7-9…If I am rich I will say “Who is God”?
This is certainly true in my life: When I can buy daily bread easily, I’m less likely to ask God for it and thank Him for it when I sit down to eat it.
Thanks for the reminder, Christine.
Matthew McMahon says:
Shaun, of all your posts, this may be the one that has made me the most emotional. Mind if I indulge in a little pop sociology analysis?
I work in the DC-area Super Zip and live outside it in Maryland, where we can afford a house on (pretty close to) the Dave Ramsey plan but I get up at 4:30 am to commute to work (and many of my colleagues have it even worse). The stats about DC-area giving are at once disheartening and depressingly obvious. There are so many factors that go into this. The extremely high cost of real estate is one. We are the most leveraged metro area in the country, and it has to do not just with conspicuous consumption but with the upper-middle-class striving mentality; you have to overleverage to get a house in the right school district to get your kids into the right schools so they can get into the best colleges and and and and. Incidentally, we also have some of the longest commute times; we get up early, have a long commute to work, work long hours, have a long commute home to our large comfy houses on small lots where we watch TV for an hour or two before collapsing into bed. There’s not a lot of time to interact with anybody, much less the poor. And if you do live in a Super Zip, you really don’t have to interact with the poor much at all; if you do it’s probably with immigrants, of which there are many, and they’re typically burning the candle at both ends trying to make their American Dream work. If you work for the Federal government, which many of us do, or, say, in the defense industry, you are – shall we say – circumspect about who you get to know. Then there’s the fact that the middle and lower-middle-class population turnover is quite high in the areas where they live; either they succeed and move to a better more stable neighborhood either further away or closer to DC, or they burn out entirely and leave the area. Try building long-term relationships, or (ahem) planting a church in that kind of environment.
And then there are the stuck, who are either working long days at low-skill jobs or sitting around doing nothing. Because we use the blue-state model of very high state and local tax burdens, it makes it easier to tell ourselves that we’re already fulfilling our obligation to the poor through the tax code. Which is another way of saying that caring for the poor is the government’s
responsibility.
One other major difference, I would expect, between DC high earners and a place like Spindale is that, when you make more money, you have the paradox of certain higher expenses like college saving and retirement savings that people who don’t expect to be able to send their kids to college or to retire won’t have. All of that said, I have no good rationalization for why giving goes through the floor once you hit $100k and especially $200k in income, even accounting for the cost of living. I’d be curious to know what the breakdown in giving is for the DC Super Zips by not only income but by regular church attendance (which in my experience is quite low compared to, say, Nashville). Your experience suggests it won’t be that different, and I regret to say I don’t expect that it will.
NaomiHattaway says:
This is absolutely fascinating to me. We are in the process of moving to an area very near the super zips you’ve referenced and it does seem odd that with such a diverse population, many of which have been all over the world, or come from all over the world, that the disparity is as it is. Bookmarking to come back and read again soon … and will be sharing.
Matthew says:
I think that those who work harder for what they have are less likely to feel they’re entitled to it. They realize there is no such thing as entitlement, and therefore they help those who have less… because they don’t “deserve” food/money/etc. any less.
Those who work less or have more given to them seem more prone to think themselves deserving of their pleasures, as if by some inherent goodness they should have better stuff. They then think of the poor as less good and thereby less deserving than themselves.
I can see evidence of these ideas when comparing my late grandfather and myself. My grandfather worked for everything he had, helped build a business from the ground up, built another one ground-up by himself, and earned his financial wealth. He was also incredibly generous, helping our church, community, and family in every way he could.
I, on the other hand, have had just about everything given to me. I realize from time to time that though I’ve had to watch my finances (more during some life stages than others), I’ve never had to live without an emergency buffer in my account. I’ve been given overwhelmingly more than I’ve earned. And I’ve historically been very, very ungenerous. Even now, I have to remind myself to be generous and fight my inclinations against it. Ironically, I (who have worked for very little) tend to not give to the homeless on the streets because I naturally (but wrongly) assume that they have little because they work little. And though I know it’s poppycock, it’s still a natural urge that I have to cognizantly correct.
Stephanie Sheaffer says:
This is an important post! Thought-provoking. Convicting.
I’m curious. What do you personally do to seek out opportunities to be around people in need? As you pointed out, it’s easy to become “boxed in” and isolated in the suburbs…
Shaun Groves says:
Great question, Stephanie. I’m fortunate to live in a small town (21,000 isn) with strong connections to a local church. Through the church we’ve been able to serve a food pantry as a family on a weekly basis for seven years now. Through that service we’ve learned about the need in the neighborhoods around us.
By making our house kid-friendly, we’ve gotten to know neighbors in need as well. Single moms. Abused women hiding from exes. An ex-convict underemployed and misjudged at every turn. It’s amazing how well free popsicles, a basketball goal and four square can earn trust, forge relationships, and lead to real community.
So, the short answer? Church and being neighborly. Does that help?
Stephanie Sheaffer says:
Great answer. 😉
One obstacle we’ve encountered is that most non-profits (soup kitchens, food banks, children’s shelters, etc.) won’t allow kids to volunteer…and we really want to make this a family endeavor.