The Charities of Southwestern Illinois – helping to build a better community
Southwestern Illinois Charitable Giving Guide
The Charities of Southwestern Illinois – helping to build a better community
The Illinois Business Journal is proud to present the second annual Southwestern Illinois Giving Guide. Southwestern Illinois is served by a plethora of charities ranging from tiny, local agencies to those that are national or even international in scope. We’ve included more than 60 in our Guide this year and we’re sorry we didn’t have room for more.
Americans are a generous people. The National Philanthropic Trust offers some interesting statistics on charitable giving in the United States. For example, did you know…
• 95.4 percent of households give to charity.
• The average household contribution is almost $3,000 per year.
• Americans donated $358 billion last year alone.
• 98 percent of high net worth households give to charity.
• Two-thirds of them site “giving back to the community” as a chief reason.
• There are currently more than 1.5 million charitable organizations in the U.S.
• 64.5 million adults volunteered 7.9 billion hours of service last year worth an estimated $175 billion.
It occurred to us last year that business owners are frequently asked to give and that there was no easy way for them to access information about all the different charities and what they do. So, we began the Giving Guide to help link donors and donees.
In the following pages you’ll be able to read the words of board chairs, CEOs and executive directors from 13 different local charities. They range from those that support the development of our young people to those that serve clients with special needs to those that support people in crisis situations.
The Southwestern Illinois Charitable Giving Guide can be pulled out of this issue of the Illinois Business Journal to refer to throughout the year. It will also be available on our website, www.ibjonline.com.
Please take time to read these messages and review the index of charities which gives you important contact information and a brief description of their mission. Together, they’re helping to build a better community.