I find I have to repeat the same responses over and over again. Fortunately, I've gotten in the habit of bookmarking.

Per capita statistics tend to tell you [forgive the lecture, but you begged for it] how much the average citizen partakes of whatever the statistic is about. In this case, the statistic tells you how much the Average American is likely to give to charity compared to the average Swede (for instance). It is a measurement that tells you how much each citizen is willing to sacrifice.

First of all, we are talking percentage of GDP, not per capita. These are not directly related. And it's misleading anyway, since we are comparing government foreign aid programs, and statistics for private charity (where per capita would be more appropriate) aren't even included.

A more realistic assessment can be found here. While we still don't come out number one as a percentage of GDP or even per-capita (and with the largest economy and a quarter of a billion population, I'm not sure that's even possible) at least all the numbers are there.

And of course none of this counts the vast good that we have done simply by the wealth and technology flowing out from America through private commerce.