Givers without borders

Charity | Churches and individuals lead in giving to poor countries | Warren Cole Smith, Rusty Leonard

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America's defenders often say that no country in the world is more generous toward developing countries than the United States. And that's true: In 2007, the U.S. government poured $21.8 billion in aid into developing countries.

But that's only half the story. As a matter of fact, that's much less than half the story.

A new survey of U.S. religious giving from congregations of all denominations to the developing world found that religious congregations gave $8.6 billion to the developing world in 2007, or almost a quarter of all private philanthropy. That's according to the newly released "Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances" published annually by Hudson Institute's Center for Global Prosperity (CGP). Nonreligious charities were responsible for another $11 billion. Capital investment by American corporations was over $97 billion, and "remittances"—simply sending cash overseas to family and friends—amounted to $79 billion.