The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation received more contributions in 1998 than any other community foundation in America, according to a study released by the Columbus Foundation.

The Kansas City Star reports that donors gave $120.9 million to the foundation last year, placing it ahead of both the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles -- which received $118.6 million in gifts -- and the New York Community Trust, with $102 million received last year, the newspaper reports.

The Columbus Foundation's Jim Luck told the Kansas City Star that the growth of the city's foundation happened rapidly -- over the last five to 10 years.

In 1988, donors gave about $400 million nationally to community foundations. In 1998, that number grew to $2.8 billion to more than 550 community foundations, Luck stated.

Kansas City has kept pace with that trend. As the number of donors increase in the city, so does the amount of money those donors give. Foundation officials attribute their success to being "first in the U.S. with generous people," and to a hands-on approach to working with donors.

Money contributed to the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation goes into any of 900 funds the organization oversees. The foundation supports programs ranging from student scholarships to medical research, the newspaper reports.

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