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Total U.S. Giving Decreased in 2009

The amount of money donated to charity by individuals, foundations and corporations decreased again in 2009, dropping 3.2 percent, according to the Giving USA Foundation. However, U.S. giving still totaled more than $300 billion.

Total U.S. giving in 2009 was $303.75 billion, down from a revised total of 315.08 billion in 2008. The overall economy saw slight price deflation in 2009, which makes the adjusted change in giving year-over-year a decline of 3.2 percent. This is not as steep of a drop as was recorded in 1974, when inflation-adjusted giving during that recessionary period fell 5.5 percent, according to Giving USA.

When adjusting for inflation, Individual giving remained flat in 2009 (0.0 percent change), totaling $227.41 billion. (Individual giving decreased 0.4 percent if you do not adjust for inflation.)

Foundation grantmaking by private, community and operating foundations fell by 8.6 percent to $38.44 billion, and corporate giving increased 5.9 percent to $14.1 billion. There was an increased number of in-kind donations by corporations in 2009, according to research cited by Giving USA.

Not All Subsectors Saw Declines

Human services, health, international aid, and environment/animals subsectors actually saw in increase in contributions in 2009. Religion, education and arts organizations, as well as foundations, saw a decrease in contributions.

NOTE: All percentages have been adjusted for inflation.

• Human Services - 2.7 percent increase ($27.08 billion total in 2009)
• Health - 4.2 percent increase ($22.46 billion total in 2009)
• International Aid - 6.6 percent increase ($8.89 billion total in 2009)
• Environment/Animals - 2.7 percent increase ($6.15 billion total in 2009)
• Religion - 0.3 percent decrease ($100.95 billion total in 2009)
• Education - 3.2 percent decrease ($40.01 billion total in 2009)
• Arts - 2.0 percent decrease ($12.34 billion total in 2009)
• Public-Society Benefit - 4.2 percent decrease ($22.77 billion total in 2009)
• Foundations - 7.6 percent decrease ($31 billion total in 2009)

"I'm proud of the work of charitable fundraisers and the enormous generosity of donors that made it possible to again exceed $300 billion in contributions in 2009," said Paulette V. Maehara, CFRE, CAE, president and CEO of AFP. "And I am very optimistic about fundraising in 2010. According to the results of AFP's State of Fundraising Survey, more than 60 percent of fundraisers believe they will raise more money in 2010 than in 2009, a significant increase from last year, when just 28 percent estimated they would raise more money in 2009 than in 2008."

Giving USA is a publication of the Giving USA Foundation, researched and written by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. For a free executive summary of the Giving USA report, go to www.givingusa2010.org.

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New AFP Quick Poll: Have You Had Success in Mobile Text Fundraising?

Take a minute to answer the latest Quick Poll question on the AFP homepage. We'll publish the results in an upcoming issue of AFP eWire. Go to www.afpnet.org.

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AFP Foundation News: Leadership Society Inducts New Members

2010 is a banner year for the Leadership Society as eight new members were inducted during the society's annual meeting at the AFP International Conference on Fundraising.  Leadership Society Chair Philip G. Schumacher, ACFRE, welcomed:

Curtis C. Deane, CFRE, CAE, president of the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy, and member of the AFP DC, Washington DC Metro Area Chapter;

D.C. Dreger, ACFRE, director of campaigns/America of Habitat for Humanity International, and member of the AFP GA, Greater Atlanta Chapter;

Alice L. Ferris, ACFRE, partner of Goalbusters, and member of the AFP AZ, Northern Chapter;

Jay Frey, CFRE, vice president for development of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and member of the AFP PA, Western Chapter;

Audrey P. Kintzi, ACFRE, vice president and development officer of Courage Center, and member of the AFP MN, Minnesota Chapter;

John Kelleher, CFRE, president & CEO of KELLEHER & ASSOCIATES, and member of the AFP CA, Greater  San Fernando Valley Chapter;

Mark S. Peterson, CFRE, president & CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise, and member of the AFP NY, Genesee Valley Chapter; and

Barbara Gill Rogus, CFRE, executive director of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and member of the AFP NY, Long Island Chapter.

The Leadership Society members actively support AFP and the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy as board and committee members, mentors and advisers. Members of the Leadership Society demonstrate sustaining commitment to the AFP foundation through their individual, cumulative giving of at least $10,000 and annual gifts of $1,000 or more. 

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Author! Author!

The AFP Publishing Advisory Committee is looking for authors to write three books for the AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series.

1. Succession Planning. This book will focus on the importance and process of succession planning and should address the following:

• Strategies for developing a successful succession plan and the steps to create and implement it
• The importance of succession planning and the events that necessitate it
• How to identify and develop personnel
• Best practices to transfer knowledge and donor relationship
• Case studies

2. Communicating Across Generations. Multichannel communication with multiple generational philanthropic cohorts is becoming increasingly confusing-and perhaps even divisive. This book should address:

• Current forms of multichannel communication
• General preferences of the four generational cohorts for communication and philanthropic engagement
• Challenges and opportunities afforded by this multichannel/multigenerational matrix
• Implications for variously sized development operations

3. Fundraising for Career Switchers. Increasingly executives who have lengthy careers in the corporate world are transitioning into the nonprofit arena. This book should minimally address:

• The motivations that move so many people to nonprofit careers
• Gaps left by aging baby boomers as they retire from many social agencies
• How to deal with the shift in culture and philosophy from profit to nonprofit spheres
• How to determine which type of nonprofit work will best suit personal needs
• How to deal with the potential frustration that could stem from learning to deal with process-oriented and consensus-driven strategies, which often slow decision making in the nonprofit world, rather than bottom-line decision making made in a pyramid setting in the corporate world
• How to translate private-sector experiences in a way that is relevant to potential employers in the nonprofit sector
• What language is appropriate to the nonprofit sector and how that differs from business jargon and industry slang

If you are interested in submitting a proposal or wish to have more information, contact D. C. Dreger, ACFRE, chair of the Publishing Advisory Committee, at dcdreger@gmail.com.