Top 400 Charities See Billions Less In Donations, Biggest Percentage Drop Ever Recorded

[marmar]

AP, via HuffPost:



WASHINGTON — A new ranking of the nation's 400 biggest charities shows donations dropped by 11 percent overall last year as the Great Recession ended – the worst decline in 20 years since the Chronicle of Philanthropy began keeping a tally.

The Philanthropy 400 report to be released Monday shows such familiar names as the United Way and the Salvation Army, both based near Washington, continue to dominate the ranking, despite the 2009 declines. The survey accounts for $68.6 billion in charitable contributions.

An earlier report by the Giving USA Foundation found overall charitable giving declined 3.6 percent last year. That report included giving to private foundations and to smaller charities, while the Chronicle's survey only includes top charities raising money from the public.

"It shows that charities are really having a tough time, and this is some of the most successful charities in the United States," Chronicle Editor Stacy Palmer said. "Usually bigger charities are more resilient, so that's the part that is still surprising." ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/17/charities-top-400-donations-drop-billions-less_n_765801.html

[JerseygirlCT]

1. I'm not surprised to read

of a trend toward more local organizations and away from the big charities. Bigger can mean more able to do more - but if often comes with bigger costs, including salaries.

I think people are realizing that funding local charities has an impact that they can see - first-hand. And perhaps local charities have a leg up on understanding the relationship between donor and donee - they *have* to perceive their donors as individuals not numbers!