Is America Stingy? Quick answer, no.

It has always bothered me to hear UN and European leaders call the U.S. (the world's largest donor in actual dollars) "stingy." But when American's start to believe it, then it really gets me upset.

These critical opinions of our foreign aid are based solely on the UN's obligatory "Agenda 21," which came up with the much touted .07 percent standard that the US foreign aid budget should be (for a much better and detailed analysis of US Foreign Aid check out http://www.usaid.gov/fani/). However, these criticisms fail to take into account charitable giving, which I would argue does the brunt of actual global aid better and more efficiently than any UN or government program could.

I realize that to the UN and in Europe charitable giving is irrelevant but to Americans, which have a long history of distrust for government programs, it is evidence of our generosity and the tool by which American citizens tackle the worlds major social problems: domestic and foreign.

America is the most generous country in the world – by far – when you look at actual aid and include charitable donations. "No country spends as much on ‘official development assistance’ as the US and Americans give more through private donations to help the world’s poor, than any other nation” (IndianExpress, 2005). Philanthropic organizations such as The American Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam America, World Vision, CARE USA, Mercy Corps and Save the Children (all of which are largely funded by American donors: Committee of Effective Giving, 2006) spend billions every year helping the poor all over the globe, which doesn't even include the number of hours American's spend in volunteering with these organizations. During times of disaster, these organizations spring into action and are many times the first one's on the ground.

The most recent public criticism of US foreign aid was during the tsunami in southeast Asia in 2005. The US was criticized for not giving enough (as compared with other developed nations) and so through pressure, Bush raised the amount from 35 million to 350 million practically over night. This put us in the top four with countries such as Germany ($674 million), Australia ($380 million), Japan ($500 million) and the US ($350 million) who gave millions in government aid.

HOWEVER, the real story was completely overlooked: The American public donated more than $1.5 BILLION in cash and gifts to the tsunami efforts through charitable organizations (many of whom were already on the ground days and hours before the first government relief agency).

So, are Americans stingy? No, and its is not just during natural disasters such as the one highlighted above, it is the norm. It is in the American spirit to give and we do it with generosity.

Some other good resources:
Committee on Effective Giving Briefing Paper
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/0506/ijse/sites.htm
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Arthur Brooks, (2006). Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism. Basic Books, New York.