Capitol Alert: Berkeley tops Cal cities in Internet charity

When it comes to charitable giving via the Internet, Berkeley appears to be California’s most generous larger city and has the nation’s seventh highest per capita donation level, according to Convio, a Texas firm that organizes Internet-based charity drives.

Fittingly, perhaps, Convio maintains its West Coast headquarters in Berkeley, whose residents contributed $10.64 per person via the Internet in 2009.

Convio assembled data for all 273 of the nation’s cities above 100,000 in population, many of which are in California. Alexandria, Va., ranked first at $20.24 per capita. Berkeley was the only California city in the top 10, but San Francisco was 12th at $9.24, Pasadena was 26th, Santa Clara 31st and San Diego 40th.

Remaining California cities varied widely in their Internet giving with El Monte at 269th, just four places from the bottom, at 24 cents per capita. Among the largest California cities, Sacramento was 63rd, San Jose 76th, Long Beach 154th, Los Angeles 184th ($1.72), Fresno 232nd, Santa Ana 239th and San Bernardino 268th, just ahead of El Monte.

The full list and a detail-filled spreadsheet are available here.