United Way turns to the rich

The wealthy in the Indianapolis area arenâ??t carrying their weight in supporting United Way of Central Indiana, according to
an analysis by the not-for-profit    comparing places including Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Columbus, Ohio.

The Indianapolis chapter has 22 â??principalâ?? donors, defined as giving at least $25,000. Thatâ??s a fraction of top-level donation
activity in the other, similar-sized Midwestern cities, IBJ reporter Kathleen McLaughlin wrote in this weekâ??s issue.

Local officials think they can double the number of principal donors if they target them with the right kind of pitch â?? possibly
as an investment in the community rather than as an obligation.

What are your thoughts on giving? Speaking more broadly than just United Way donations, a study two years ago showed households
with at least $200,000 in income or $1 million in assets donated an average of 9 percent of their incomes to charity. A different
study had households with $50,000 or less in household income giving an average of 4.2 percent of their incomes.

Do the wealthy do enough? Or are they already giving more than their share?