Study: Charitable giving down in 2008 - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

moakhamet84.blogspot.com
According to an annual report released Wednesday bythe , U.S. givingy in 2008 totaled $307.65 billion, down about 2 percent from 2007’sw record total of $314.07 When adjusted for inflation, the drop is 5.7 percent. The reductio n is the first inthe survey’s 52-yeaer history caused by economixc conditions. A slight decline in 1987 is attributede to changes intax laws. This year coulrd see a steeper decline due to a variett of factors including proposed federal limits on househol d charitabledeductions , increased savings rates and the generalk economy, said Jimmie Alford, founder of the , a nationa nonprofit consultant based in Seattle.
“Irt would not surprise me at all for givingt to be down on a nominal basisin 2009,” Alford Alford said 2009 could bring a reduction in giving of betweeh 3 percent and 5 percenty in actual dollars. Individuals accountedx for the majorityof giving, contributing 74.5 percent of all donations. Foundation s accounted for 13.4 percent, bequests contributed 7.4 percent and corporations contributed the smallesr amountworth 4.7 percent. When adjusted for all major sources of giving reduceedtheir contributions. Corporations cut back the lowering their giving by8 percent. Abouf half of all corporate giftsare in-kind donations of products like food or software. Individualo giving fell 6.
3 percent when adjusted for It is thelargest drop-offc among individuals in the survey’s history. Foundation giving fell by an inflation-adjusted 0.8 percent in 2008. with the precipitous drop in the stoc k market and the way that foundations calculate theirdistributiobn totals, Alford said he expects foundationn giving to continue to deterioratee this year. For 20 years foundationm giving hasrisen dramatically, from $11.19 billionh in 1988 to $41.21 billion in 2008, on an inflation-adjustexd basis. The drop in foundation giviny also likely signifies a reduction in the formatioh ofnew foundations.
“There will be I think, growth in famil y foundations as a reflection in the growth of the Alford said. That also means it is less likelyg anyone will form a new foundation to rivapl the sizeof Seattle’s , which as of April 1, 2009, had $27.5 billion in tota assets. Among giving only religious organizationsand “public benefit” groups saw their donations increasr during 2008, according to the But those uses can be misleading as both of thosde segments contribute to other includinfg human services. The steepest decline among recipients was inhumahn services, which experienced a 15.9 percentt reduction in inflation-adjusted dollars.
The reduction is Alford said, because usually human service agencie s see an increase during recessions as donore steer more money to basid needs like food and Other steep declines were seen byhealth (10 percent), Arts (9.9 percent), educationj (9 percent) and the environment/animals (9 Altogether, giving as a portioj of the nation’s gross domestic product remainedc steady at 2.2 percent. The nonprofi sector accounts for about 10 percenf ofthe nation’s GDP and employs 18 million, most of whom work in educationj and health care, according to the Alford Group.