Charitable giving falls 3.6 percent in U.S. in 2009 - Washington Times

Charitable giving falls 3.6 percent in U.S. in 2009 - Washington Times

Charitable giving fell by 3.6 percent last year as Americans continued to struggle with the recession, though some philanthropic experts feared the decrease could have been much worse given the eco nomic downturn, according to an authoritative annual survey released Wednesday.

Americans donated $303.75 billion during 2009, the second-worst year since 1956, when the Giving USA Foundation started conducting its surveys. The worst year was 1974, when giving fell an inflation-adjusted 5.5 percent. However, 2009 also was the third straight year when giving reached more than $300 billion.

"We actually were anticipating a larger drop," foundation Chairwoman Edith Falk said, ticking off the challenges that 2009 presented for donors to make charitable donations, including high unemployment and home foreclosure rates.

"Given all those factors, we really were expecting people were not going to be in the position to give," Miss Falk said.