Idaho’s Increase in Charitable Giving During 2020 Led the Nation

In the wake of a pandemic, Idaho showed up in a big way.

I think we can all say that 2020 was a rough year. The pandemic was something that touched all of us in some way or another. We could have all just taken the year to focus on ourselves, but we didn't. In fact, we opened up our hearts more during the pandemic.

Idaho's charitable giving increased 153 percent last year.

Read that again... 153 percent. Yep. In a year that took so much from us, we continued to give. We chose to take care of others, knowing that there were people who needed help more than we did. I don't know about you, but that hits me right in the feels and gives me all of the warm fuzzies.

That number came from a survey conducted by Top Data. Not only did they find that there was an increase in donations in 40 states, they also found that the average adult donated about $608 throughout the year. Across the board, that's an increase in 16 percent from 2019. Many also reported that they used their stimulus check to help others.

Idaho led the way percentage-wise when it came to giving more in 2020. In fact, only one other state broke 100 percent. Wyoming saw a 103 percent increase to put them at number two on the list. Montana was number three with 82 percent. Others in the top 10 include Utah, Oregon, Ohio, Hawaii, Alabama, Louisiana and Colorado.

As we move forward in a new year, let's continue to take care of each other.