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Survey Shows Silicon Valley is Reluctant to Give

J M Shenoy

Even before the Silicon Valley high-tech world started bleeding six months ago as one high-flying firm after another tumbled, the Valley culture was dictated by all work and little incentive to give money for charities -- or voluntary work.

High-tech leaders Radha Basu, co-founder of Maitri (a resource group for South Asian women), and Lata Krishnan (strong backer of another women empowerment group, Narika) may not fully agree. But a survey by John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard shows that the average Silicon Valley respondent with a $67,800 household income gave $1,355 to charities. Nationally, the survey's respondents had an average of $53,000 in household income - and the annual donations came to $1,516.

Kailash Joshi, president of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), acknowledges that the Valley is slowly realizing the importance of social commitment.

TiE, for instance, has been strongly involved in raising money for Gujarat earthquake relief. "The Gujarat earthquake has made us learn about social entrepreneurship," Joshi says. "So far we were mostly concerned with the creation of wealth."

The survey also shows that while nationally the respondents volunteered 9.5 times a year (typically spending 4 hours each time), in the Silicon Valley the number came down to 6.5 times.

While the survey recognized that the Valley is an excellent place to foster business and technology networking, "the personal ties that bind us to each other and to our community are weak".

Religion did not fare well in the Valley either. Only 27 percent of the respondents said they attended religious services every week. Nationally, the number was 41 percent. The numbers for the Valley would have gone up significantly perhaps if more immigrants were surveyed. Visit the Hindu temple in Livermore or the Baps Mandir in Milpitas (and the nearby Jain Mandir) -- not to forget the make-shift mosques -- and you will get a significantly different picture of religious life in the Valley.

The survey wasn't without hopeful indications.

For instance, it noted there was a far better racial trust in the Valley than in many other parts of America.

Nationally, 49 percent of the residents had Hispanic friends. In the Valley, it was 70 percent. Sixty seven percent Valley residents had Asian American friends compared with 34 percent nationally.

But the trust did not embrace the African Americans strongly. For 57 percent in the Valley had African American friends compared to 61 percent nationally.

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