The United States is the most generous coutnry in the world. CAF's World Giving Index 2013 shows that the US leads the way in participation giving, but it also comes out on top in terms of overall monetary amounts given and in terms of relative measures such as giving as a proportion of GDP.

The UK also has a long tradition of charitable giving, and is consistently one of the most generous nations in the world. Yet, in the eyes of those who see our nation as natural competitors to the US, we are still failing. "London vies with New York to be the world's global financial centre", they cry, "yet the UK gives less than half the amount to charity as a proportion of GDP that the US does. Why is this? And how can we build a US-style culture of philanthropy here in the UK?"