Posted on June 22, 2004

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'Giving USA' Reports Increase in Charitable Giving

According to Giving USA 2004, charitable giving in the United States increased at the fastest rate in three years in 2003, rising some 2.8 percent to $240.7 billion.

While the increase was only 0.5 percent when adjusted for inflation, slightly below the inflation-adjusted rate of .06 percent from 2001 to 2002, the total represented 2.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product, just short of the all-time high of 2.3 percent of GDP recorded in 2000. "Charitable giving above two percent of gross domestic product is one demonstration of our nation's renewed commitment to the good works done by charities and congregations," said Henry Goldstein, chairman of the Giving USA Foundation, which published the report. Goldstein attributed last year's increase to higher household net income, a stronger stock market, and improved corporate profits.

Of the 1,369 organizations that responded to the survey, 55 percent reported an increase in charitable contributions in 2003, while 8 percent reported stable levels of giving and 37 percent reported a decline. That represents an improvement over 2002, when surveyed organizations were split nearly 50/50 between increases and decreases in contributions. Of the ten charitable categories documented by the report, religious organizations received the most contributions — an estimated $86.4 billion, or 35.9 percent of the total — while educational institutions and foundations were the only categories to experience declines in giving.

Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, told the Associated Press that charitable giving typically lags economic recovery by as much as two years after a recession and added that she was pleased to see donations rising more quickly than that in the current recovery. But with private giving accounting for only one-fifth of most charities' revenue, Aviv noted, other revenue sources, including public-sector funding, remain a concern. "The individual giving being up is good news; it doesn't mean it changes the overall picture for charities because of where the other sources of funding are."

Giving USA, a public service initiative of the Trust for Philanthropy of the American Association of Fundraising Counsel (AAFRC), is researched and written by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. The complete report will be available to the public in July.

Locke, Kendra. “Charitable Giving Rises in 2003.” Associated Press 6/21/04.

“Americans Give $241 Billion To Charity In 2003.” AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy Press Release 6/21/04.

Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Location(s): National

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