Foundation assets in Michigan increased in recent years, from nearly $25 billion in 2005 to nearly $28.5 billion in 2007. Dramatic increases in both foundation giving per capita and foundation giving as a percent of gross state product over the same time period are also encouraging. Michigan’s rank on per capita giving went from 14th to 9th, and increased from $144 to $182 per capita. As a percent of gross state product, giving increased from 0.39 percent to 0.48 percent, and moved Michigan up the ranks from 10th to 6th.
Money is certainly not the only method of expressing generosity; time also is a valuable commodity. For an additional measure of philanthropy, we can use volunteer rates and volunteer hours per capita. (All volunteer measures are calculated with a three-year moving average.) Between 2006 and 2008, Michigan dropped four spots in the state ranking, from 17th to 21st with a small drop in the volunteer rate. While volunteer rates are dropping in Michigan, the volunteer hours per capita are rising, suggesting that fewer residents are volunteering more hours. Michigan jumped up in the ranks from 31st in 2006 to 13th in 2008. This represented an increase of more than five volunteer hours per capita.
