San Diego County-based foundations have far less money than their counterparts in other major cities, contributing to a lower total of donations, according to a new study of charitable giving in the county.

However, local foundations are more generous with the money they do have, according to the study, released Tuesday. The study was conducted by San Diego Grantmakers, a group advocating increased philanthropy in the county, and by the University of San Diego.

San Diego County ranks comparatively low in charitable grants, according to the study, at $46 per person, per year. By comparison, Los Angeles gets $92 and San Francisco gets $576. California as a whole gets $122 per person, per year in charitable grants.

As of 2005, total local foundations had $2.3 billion in assets and gave $237 million, the study found. That's dwarfed by other major cities surveyed by the foundation.

Los Angeles-area foundations had $34.7 billion in assets and gave $1.54 billion in 2005, the study found. San Francisco foundations had $31.3 billion and gave $1.95 billion. Statewide, foundations had $83.8 billion in assets and gave $4.4 billion.

Outside of California, Denver foundations had $6.14 billion and gave $338 million. Phoenix foundations had $3.18 billion and gave $161 million. Pittsburgh foundations had $10 billion and gave $519 million. And Tampa, Fla., foundations had $882 million and gave $82.7 million.

But San Diego foundations are actually more generous proportionate to their assets, according to the study.

San Diego foundations gave 10 percent of their assets in grants in 2005, compared with 6 percent in San Francisco, 4 percent in Los Angeles and 5 percent statewide. Outside the state, the percentages were 6 percent for Denver, 5 percent for Phoenix, 5 percent for Pittsburgh and 9 percent for Tampa.

The study attributed part of the larger percentage total for San Diego for use of a different source, the Foundation Center, for all other cities. But the Foundation Center reported that San Diego had a 8 percent giving rate, still higher than most other cities.

In North County, donations went most heavily to Escondido- and Poway-based activities, according to the study, which provided approximate figures per ZIP code. Laura Deitrick, a research associate at the University of San Diego, said she didn't know why that was the case.

At the lower end of the giving spectrum, Valley Center, Vista and Oceanside charitable causes were among the lowest recipients of donations.

Coincidentally, the study was released the same day a $30 million grant was announced to support stem cell research by the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine.

The stem cell consortium has changed its name to the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine after the donor, T. Denny Sanford of Sioux Falls, S.D.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com.