Every half-second, or 120 times per minute, someone, somewhere around the globe, makes a financial contribution to an individual, family or charitable organization through the well-known gofundme website.

Let that number sink in a minute; or multiply it out: that’s 7,200 donations per hour… 172,800 per day… or 63,072,000 annually.

That’s a lot of people, helping a lot of other people, financially. And the fundraising giant reported late last year, Taylorsville residents donated more money through gofundme in 2024 than any other Utah city.

Each year, gofundme totals up all of its donations and releases top 10 lists of the most generous residents by state and by city. Obviously, these are per capita numbers; otherwise, it’s pretty likely California would lead the way every year. After all, one out of every nine United States residents is
a Californian.

Taylorsville was not among gofundme’s top 10 cities; and Utah did not make its top 10 states list. However, just a bit further down, Taylorsville residents ranked 17th on the cities list.

To be eligible for listing, city populations must be at least 50,000. That rules out much smaller and wealthier cities such as Alpine, Highland or Park City.

Taylorsville Mayor Kristie Overson isn’t surprised by her city’s ranking on the gofundme list.

“I really can’t speak to financial contributions, because the city never asks people to donate money,” she began. “But I am very well aware of how people step up in our community to donate their time. Taylorsville residents always rally around important causes. So, having our residents rank high on the gofundme list doesn’t surprise me at all. What a great way to be recognized.”

Interestingly, nine of the top 10 highest-donating cities listed by gofundme are located in just two states: Florida (6) and Georgia (3). The tenth city on their list is also down in the deep south: Greenville, South Carolina.

Also noteworthy, the top six gofundme donating states are the six New England states. In order, for 2024, they are: Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine and Connecticut. New Jersey (7) and New York (10) are also in that same part of the country. The other two states in the top 10 – both here in the west – are Colorado (8) and Washington (9).

Another Taylorsville resident well-familiar with the generosity of people in our city is Phil Knight, volunteer manager of the Taylorsville Food Pantry. For two years now, many members of his Intermountain Baptist Church congregation, as well as non-members, have volunteered their time to provide thousands of area families with food. 

“Not only do we have our volunteers operating the food pantry but I have also been overwhelmed by all the people with home gardens who drop food off to us,” Knight said. “Corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, walnuts…you name it. Taylorsville residents grow it – and then donate it for us to give away. There have also been (food pantry distribution) days when we were a little shorthanded and we’ve had people jump out of line to help us hand out food. Generosity is everywhere in our community; so, Taylorsville residents making that list doesn’t surprise me at all.”

And you can add State Sen. Karen Kwan to the unsurprised list.

“I’ve been a Taylorsville resident more than 30 years and I can tell you, the generosity of my neighbors is unmatched,” Kwan said. “Our residents have such a big heart. They never question who you are, what your background or ethnicity is, how much money you earn or how influential you are. If you are in need, Taylorsville residents
jump in.”

Again, there’s no real way for anyone to know how frequently people make financial contributions through fundraising websites from the privacy of their home computer. But no one seems surprised Taylorsville made the gofundme list, because of all the time they see people donating.

A few years ago, Taylorsville resident Elsa Elizondo took it upon herself to organize volunteers to regularly clean up litter along the belt route corridor. There are also the dozens of people – including members of the Taylorsville High School football team – who donate time each summer for the city’s annual cleanup drive in the school’s
parking lot.

Oh, and have you ever enjoyed a little time at Taylorsville Dayzz? Again, that event – unquestionably, the biggest Taylorsville activity each year – is also only possible thanks to dozens of volunteers.

Sure, it’s not the same as actual money donations. But the accepted financial value of donated time, according to many national organizations that track such things, is about $30 to $35 per hour. Putting that kind of a number to all that donated time also offers a perspective of Taylorsville residents’
generosity.

Finally, gofundme reports, in 2024 the average donation passing through their website was $77. Some $42 million was donated to individuals and $23 million to nonprofit organizations. λ