"We tried to have it be balanced geographically," Whelpley said, "but the greatest percentage of groups doing this kind of work is in the city."
Last year's Giving Guide raised $300,000 in cash and other contributions for the 15 charities included. Like the Catalogue for Philanthropy, 100 percent of those contributions went to the charities.
The Tenants' and Workers Committee hit the jackpot. By coincidence, it is included in both publications, which thrills its "grass-roots fundraiser," Elsa Riveros said.
"They know that organizations like us -- we need money," Riveros said.
The Catalogue for Philanthropy can be obtained at www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org. The Spirit of Giving Guide is at www.cfncr.org.
During a recent online chat about philanthropy at www.washingtonpost.com, I got a good question about the latest "Generosity Index," which purports to rank the charity of residents in all 50 states. Which states are more generous, my questioner asked, red (GOP) states or blue (Democrat) states?
The answer, for what it's worth, is that red states rank higher on this year's index. The most generous states are Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Alabama.
And the stingiest? The blue states of Wisconsin, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
