Nevada’s wealthy households make 27 percent of charitable donations

Philanthropy continues to be the key factor in the fiscal health of dozens of nonprofit organizations in Las Vegas and statewide. Although high net worth households faced a significant reduction in wealth during the recession, they managed to give hundreds of millions of dollars to support health care, the arts and education.

Nevadans with a net worth of more than $1 million make up only 0.2 percent of the state's population but account for more than 27 percent of its reported charitable contributions, according to a report Wednesday from The Private Bank by Nevada State Bank.

The average annual giving from the state's richest families was $138,320. The average for all families is $957, according to the study conducted by Las Vegas-based Applied Analysis.

Russell Price, executive vice president of The Private Bank, warned that the so-called "fiscal cliff" that is approaching on Monday could negatively impact charitable giving.

"We're keeping a particularly close eye on how Washington lawmakers deal with the fiscal cliff," Price said. "Limiting or even eliminating tax deductions could have significant impacts on households with high net worth, which contribute an average of nearly $140,000 each year to charities."

Price said these dollars fund some of Nevada's most crucial social services.

Higher education is the leading beneficiary of charitable donations in Nevada, as it is nationwide. From 2000 to 2010 higher education received 44.3 percent, or $1.5 billion, of all charitable donations in Nevada.

After higher education, Nevadans, gave 13.3 percent, or $455.5 million, to causes focused on the arts, culture and the humanities; 10.2 percent, or $348.2 million, to human services; 7.3 percent, or $249.3 million, to health; and 25 percent, or $854.9 million to all other categories.

Nevadans gave $3.4 billion in publicly announced large donations ($1 million or more) to charities between 2000 and 2010, with $903.8 million, or 26.4 percent, donated .

Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@
reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @sierotyfeatures on Twitter.