Houston's charities rank No. 1 in the country — again

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Houston's charities rank No. 1 in the country — again
Sep 7, 2016, 7:50am CDT

Despite the oil downturn’s effect on Houston, the Bayou City is still the No. 1 most charitable place in America.

Charity Navigator’s annual Metro Market Study ranked Houston’s charities No. 1 for overall financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency. It also found that Houston's charities received proportionately the most donations of any city in the analysis. The median contribution level for a Houston charity is nearly $4.32 million, according to Charity Navigator.

"The city’s number one ranking in our study is directly related to financial strength and ethical behavior exhibited by Houston charities, a result of the hard work of both informed donors and responsible nonprofit leaders," said Michael Thatcher, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, in a statement.
Houston also took the top spot in last year's analysis. The other metros in the overall top five are St. Louis; Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida; Dallas; and San Diego, California — none of which made the top five last year.

Elsewhere, Atlanta’s charities were the most efficient fundraisers,

Pittsburgh’s had the largest surpluses, and those in Phoenix are growing the fastest.

To compile its Metro Market Study, Charity Navigator analyzed the largest 30 metro markets in the U.S., which account for 62 percent of the more than 7,983 charities evaluated by Charity Navigator as of Aug. 1.

Of the 106 largest charities in Houston, 54 received four out of four stars from Charity Navigator. The Houston charity with the highest score for overall financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency was the Houston Food Bank.

“The consistently, exceptional performance of Houston charities confirms what people in Houston already know,” Thatcher said in a Sept. 6 release. “Simply put, there’s a tremendous amount of philanthropic energy in that community right now."

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