German’s Generous Spirits Rank High In World Giving Index

Germany is full of kind, generous people. Don’t think I’m biased just because I’m German — here’s yet another proof!

The 2010 World Giving Index has been released by the Charities Aid Foundation. The organization used hard numbers from the Gallup Corporation to determine which world nations were the most charitable overall.

Donating money to charitable causes, performing volunteer work, and being willing to help a stranger or someone you didn’t know were the main points going into the World Giving Index. However, the Charities Aid Foundation also looked at the breakdown between men and women, old and young, and happiness of the country as a whole when they were figuring their numbers.

Germany did very well in the poll. We are ranked 18th worldwide for our generous spirits. Out of 153 countries, that’s doing pretty good!

Some of the other interesting points that the report had to make about Germany were that 49% of us are giving money each month to a charitable cause. Men volunteer just slightly more hours per month than women, but almost 30% of the population of Germany volunteers time every month. An amazing 56% of us will help a stranger, one of the highest scores of any of the European nations.

According to the report, one of the main drivers of giving in all countries was happiness instead of wealth. The more a nation was giving, the happier and more satisfied with life were its citizens. I think this also reflects very well on Germany, don’t you?

Really, the report is just a nice bit of proof to back up what most people will experience when they come to Germany. All of the fairs, festivals, and special events that we are famous for depend on the charitable giving and volunteer hours put in by the hosting towns.

From the massive regional volunteer effort that it takes to put on something like Oktoberfest — starting this Saturday! — to the focused local effort it takes to put on something like the Oberammergau Passion Play, Germany runs on the goodwill and kind hearts of its people.

I know it, and you know it, too, if you’ve been here.

Thanks to this survey, now the whole world can know! ;-)

—Marcus