Donations to the nation's biggest charities dropped 11
percent last year - the sharpest decline in the two decades since The Chronicle
of Philanthropy started its Philanthropy 400 ranking of the organizations that
raise the most from private sources.
Nonprofit organizations say they don't expect to have done
much better by the time 2010 ends. More than one in four of the groups provided
projections for 2010, and the median change they predicted was an increase of
just 1.4 percent.
The 400 institutions in the survey raised $68.6 billion in
2009. The drop in contributions was nearly four times as great as the next
biggest annual decrease -- 2.8 percent in 2001, when charities also struggled
to raise money from recession-battered donors.
The median amount raised by charities on the Philanthropy
400 also fell last year -- to $98.8
million from $105 million in 2008, meaning half raised more and half raised
less.
The Philanthropy 400 is based on the most-recent year of data available for charities. Most organizations reported data for the 2009 fiscal year but some groups reported data for other periods of time.
The Top 10
Among the 10 charities that raised the most last year, six reported declines. Giving to United Way Worldwide (No. 1) was down by 4.5 percent, while donations to the Salvation Army (No. 2) was off 8.4 percent. Those were the smallest declines among the top-ranking groups.
Food for the Poor (No. 6) saw contributions fall by more than 27 percent, while donations to the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund (No. 7) plunged by 40.3 percent -- largely because it relies heavily on stock gifts, which were not very popular last year.
Also reporting declines were the American Cancer Society (No. 8), where giving fell by 11 percent, and the Y (No. 10), which reported a 17.2 percent drop in donations.
Only four charities in the top 10 reported increased contributions
last year.
They were Catholic Charities USA (No. 3) with a 66 percent jump; the AmeriCares Foundation (No. 4), which achieved an 18.1 percent rise in giving -- mostly in food, medicine, and other donated goods; Feed the Children (No. 5), another charity that relies on donated products, where contributions rose by 1.2 percent; and World Vision (No. 9), which reported a 4.5 percent increase in giving mostly by donors who make monthly gifts to "sponsor" needy children overseas.
$1 billion gainers
While AmeriCares fared well last year, its fund-raising growth for the past two decades helped it achieve the top ranking among organizations that grew the fastest in the 20 years since The Chronicle started ranking the top fund-raising charities. It increased giving by $1.1 billion. Two other charities also grew by more than $1 billion: Feed the Children and Habitat for Humanity, which now ranks No. 11.
The Chronicle's list shows how hard it is for new organizations to raise enough to make the Philanthropy 400 list. Of the charities on the 2010 list, 226 appeared in 1991 and 178 have been on the list for all 20 years.
The Philanthropy 400 shows the organizations that raise the most from individuals, foundations, and businesses. No government funds are counted. As a result, some organizations that are large but get most of their money from government agencies are not included
