Giving USA 2005
5 July 2005 at 1:07 pm
Charitable giving is the US has risen 5 % to nearly $US250 Billion in 2004 withTsunami gifts accounting for less than one-half of 1 percent of total, according to the latest review by the Giving USA Foundation.
The figure sets a new record for philanthropic giving in the United States according to the Foundation.
The new Giving USA report is the 50th anniversary edition of the yearbook of philanthropy.
According to the survey contributions towards relief after the December 26 Tsunami that devastated South Asia are a very small portion of the estimated total, less than one-half of 1 percent.
The Foundation says much of the Tsunami relief giving will appear in 2005, and, at between $US1.5 billion and $US2.5 billion the contributions likely will be a low
percentage of the total estimated charitable contributions for that year.
Henry (Hank) Goldstein, CFRE, chair of the Giving USA Foundation a 5% increase suggests donors are ‘over the hump’ of the economic concerns that limited the growth of contributions in 2002 and even in 2003.
Giving USA reports giving from four sources of contributions—individual (living) donors; bequests by deceased individuals; foundations; and corporations. All four sources of giving are estimated to have increased their contributions in 2004 by 4 to 9 percent.
Individual giving, the single largest source, rose by an estimated 4.1 percent in 2004 to reach $187.92 billion.
Since its inception 50 years ago, Giving USA has tracked contributions to NFP’s in different sub-sectors or categories of services. These sub-sectors now include religious organisations, educational institutions, health charities, human services agencies, organisations that promote public or societal benefit (such as foundations, United Way, United Jewish Appeal and others), institutions in the arts, culture, or humanities, environment or animal welfare groups, and organisations engaged in international affairs or international aid.
Giving to all sub-sectors increased in 2004, at rates ranging from growth of 7.0 percent for environmental and animal welfare organisations to 0.8 percent for international affairs and development.
Adjusted for inflation, all areas except two—international affairs and development and human services—saw growth in giving in 2004.
After two years of double-digit rates of growth, giving to international affairs and development declined by 1.8 percent (adjusted for inflation) in 2004.
Organisations in the human services sector saw giving drop (adjusted for inflation) by 1.1 percent, which is the third year in a row for a decline in this sub-sector.
In the annual Giving USA survey, 55 percent of responding organisations reported increases in charitable gifts received in 2004 compared with 2003. The largest organisations — those with charitable contributions totalling $20 million or more—were the most likely to report an increase in giving, with 60 percent saying giving was up in 2004.
Giving USA’s annual estimates are based on original surveys of organisations and econometric studies using tax data, government estimates for economic indicators, and information from other research institutions. Sources of data used in the estimates include the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Foundation Centre, INDEPENDENT SECTOR, Council for Aid to Education, National Centre for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute, and National Council of Churches of Christ.
Rates of change for 2004 are based on responses from 910 organisations.
