How Different Types of Charities Fared Last Year, According to New Tally

By Holly Hall and Cassie J. Moore

Giving rose by 1 percent last year after adjusting for inflation, according to Giving USA, the annual

tally of charitable donations.

The report also included inflation-adjusted average increases in total giving and in giving to different types of charities from 1998 through 2007. It found that total giving rose by an average of 4 percent annually over the last decade.

Following is a summary of how contributions rose and fell among different types of charities last year and how they have fared since 1998.

Behind the numbers: Giving to religious causes grew more slowly last year than to any other type of organization, but it still accounts for about a third of all giving in the United States.

Rick Dunham, a fund-raising consultant in Addison, Tex., who works with Christian ministries, says he thinks that the sluggish growth is not necessarily a sign that donors are less interested in religious giving — but that they are channeling more of their money to organizations that aren’t necessarily classified as religious, such as World Vision, which raised $728.5-million in 2007, an increase of 8 percent over 2006.

“The backbone of philanthropic giving within the U.S. is generated by people of faith,” he says. “At the core, you’ve got people not asking the question ‘Should I give?’ They’re asking the question ‘Where should I give?’ because they’ve already made that giving decision.”

Some religious charities are taking steps to improve communication with donors. Campus Crusade for Christ, in Orlando, Fla., is beginning to tailor direct-mail appeals and information sent to donors to match their interests.

The group raised $468-million in 2007, 3 percent more than in 2006. If donors “only want to get four pieces of mail, we can do that,” says Mike Duggins, director of ministry development. “If they tell us they’re interested in Africa but not in South America, we can respond to that.”

He says Campus Crusade is looking for ways to expand its giving to outpace inflation. It will start a “development institute,” opening this fall in Orlando, that will provide fund-raising training to staff members.

Wycliffe Bible Translators, also in Orlando, has seen an increase of more than 60 percent in donations inspired by catalogs of projects that showcase specific efforts and how much they cost. For example, donors can give $15 so the charity can distribute 10 copies of the Gospel of Mark. The project catalogs have brought in $600,000 so far in the current fiscal year, which ends in September.

Behind the numbers: The increase in giving was fueled in part by the number of colleges and schools running capital campaigns, says John Lippincott, president of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, in Washington, but the increase is a slowdown from last year’s gain of 5.8 percent. And Mr. Lippincott expects the growth rate in 2008 to cool even more due to the economy.

“We are starting to hear stories of donors in the current climate being a bit more cautious about the commitments that they make, major donors in particular,” he says. “They might want to either extend the time frame to fulfill a pledge or wait a little longer to make the commitment until they see what their portfolio is going to look like in a couple of months, or even perhaps scale back a little bit the size of the gift that they’re comfortable making.”

College fund raisers say they are also hearing such concerns.

Marjorie Klein, vice president for development and alumni affairs at Allegheny College, in Meadville, Penn., says, “We are hearing from people, in greater numbers than in any recent past year that anyone can remember, that they can’t fulfill pledges that they made earlier in the year.”

In the case of donors who have been laid off, Ms. Klein says, her office helps connect them with other alumni in their line of work who may be able to help. If money is tight because of food and gas prices, she says, “what we’re doing is trying to make people feel comfortable and offer payment options. If they can’t do it this year, maybe would they be interested in doing something next year.”

The tough climate comes after Allegheny had its best fund-raising years in 2006 and 2007, raising $14.5-million and $14.6-million, respectively, in those years. That came after giving in 2005 totaled $11.8-million. Ms. Klein says the increases were due to the college’s capital campaign and a matching grant of $1-million that came from a family with several alumni of the college.

Behind the numbers: Although giving to social-service charities increased faster last year than it did in 2006, many organizations say they struggle to raise money and are grappling with other financial challenges, such as government cutbacks and increased demand for services by people who have lost jobs or homes or can no longer make ends meet.

The Pace Center for Girls, a Florida charity that works with troubled girls in 17 locations, lost $500,000 in government funds after the state reduced property taxes, leaving less money available for social-service programs.

“We’ve had a very rough year,” says Lynn Bertram, executive director of the charity’s Jacksonville office. Because of the loss of state funds, the organization has closed its Key West office and shut five other programs offered, she says.

Other social-service groups, such as the Children’s Center, which provides foster care, aid to children with disabilities, and other services in Detroit, have not faced cuts in government aid, but they say private contributions have dropped sharply as the economy sours.

The Children’s Center raised $2-million last year, about the same as in 2006, but expects to raise $500,000 less this year, says Debora Matthews, the center’s executive director. She says contributions from grant makers and individuals have dropped, as has revenue from fund-raising events. For example, Charity Preview, a local event at which automakers show off their new models and donate the proceeds to charity will raise $500,000 for the center this year, down from more than $800,000, Ms. Matthews says.

The poor economy has had one bright spot for some social-service organizations, however, particularly those that provide long-term or nursing-home care to the elderly. The volatile stock market has made charitable gift annuities, which provide donors with guaranteed income in exchange for a gift, more attractive to donors who fear they might outlive their assets as their portfolios decline.

“We have seen an uptick in gift annuities over the last 18 months,” says Tom Akins, vice president of development at Brewster Place Retirement Community, in Topeka, Kan. “Before we might have had nine or 10 a year, and we have easily doubled that number,” he says.

Most of the gift annuities, he notes, have been created by residents, whose average age is 82, or their family members.

Behind the numbers: Giving to health organizations rose by more than 2 percent, after declining by 5 percent in 2006. Officials at the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, which represents 4,600 nonprofit hospitals and medical centers, expects that its members will report healthy increases in contributions when its annual survey of their 2007 fund-raising returns comes out next month.

“We have not heard that it was hard for members in 2007,” says Bill McGinly, the association’s president. “We will see another increase from what we are hearing.”

Mr. McGinly says that many nonprofit hospitals and medical centers have worked diligently over the last two to three years to hire fund raisers with the goal of increasing large cash gifts from individuals, as well as bequests and other planned gifts. “Major gifts as a percentage of contributions are now up there with annual giving and capital campaigns,” he says.

But other health organizations that fight disease have suffered declines in giving by donors, particularly among companies that sponsor their special events and other programs. At the American Lung Association of Minnesota, in St. Paul, which has raised $1.9-million annually in the past, the organization’s director of development, Gary Benedict, says that both corporate and foundation support have declined this year. The association relies on companies that sponsor a summer camp for children with asthma that costs $150,000 but is $54,000 short of that goal. Foundation grants have dropped by 15 to 20 percent. To cope with the shortfalls, the charity has laid off two of its 25 staff members this year and will have to let another one go soon, Mr. Benedict says.

Behind the numbers: Organizations classified as “public-society benefit,” including United Ways, Jewish federations, consumer-watchdog groups, and civil-rights groups, are trying new approaches to invigorate fund raising.

Several of the organizations are taking steps to narrow their mission, with the goal of making more of a difference in a specific area — and making it clearer to donors what their money will achieve. For example, United Ways announced last month that they are tackling three specific goals and focusing their donations on those causes.

Some Jewish federations are taking a hybrid approach — asking donors to support the general fund that finances a wide array of programs, and then asking for an additional gift to further a special program that reflects the donor’s interests.

For example, says Sue Worrel, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, in North Carolina, if a major donor already gives $50,000 for the general campaign and Ms. Worrel knows that the donor cares about sending needy Jewish kids to summer camp, she will ask him or her to give an additional $10,000 toward scholarships for Jewish campers.

Ms. Worrel says that none of the donors she has approached with this opportunity have turned her down, and estimates the federation has so far brought in just under $100,000 this way.

The federation’s annual campaign raised more than it ever has in the past, raising slightly more than $3-million in 2007, an increase of 7.5 percent from 2006. Ms. Worrel says that beyond asking for the earmarked gifts, the federation also succeeded by making a concerted effort to invite prospective donors to its major events. Of the 1,700 donors who gave to the annual campaign, almost 20 percent had never previously supported the federation.

Behind the numbers: Donations to arts and cultural groups grew by about the same rate as they did in 2006. Many arts organizations reported that giving by individuals remained strong or increased last year, often in response to a capital campaign. That was the case at Ford’s Theatre, in Washington, now in a three-year drive to raise $50-million by 2009. Ford’s raised $22-million last year in campaign gifts and another $5-million in annual-fund donations.

“We had some significant leadership gifts,” says Michelle Powers Keegan, the theater’s director of development. “We have remained stable.”

Donations are increasingly important because other types of revenue are declining, arts leaders say.

Some arts groups, such as the Boston Center for the Arts, that rent out space to other arts groups, trade shows, and entities such as restaurants or gift shops say earnings have dropped as the economy roils.

“These sources of income are being jeopardized by the economy,” says Lisa Giuffre, the center’s chief operating officer.

Last year, for example, income from arts groups that rent two small venues at the center was $160,000; that is declining by $50,000 this year, Ms. Giuffre says. Charitable contributions, she adds, will increase modestly by $25,000 this year, to $885,000.

Other arts groups have found it harder to win corporate support, even for blockbuster exhibits. “We have traditionally been able to secure large corporate sponsorships for big exhibitions,” says Paul Johnson, associate director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where donations have otherwise increased over the last three years, to $185.8-million last year.

In one instance, the museum has downgraded a traveling exhibit that it planned to show in eight to 10 cities nationwide. Because the museum cannot find a sponsor, the exhibit will now be seen only in Houston and one other city. “We have had to scale back,” Mr. Johnson says.

Behind the numbers: Many charities that provide relief and other direct services overseas achieved robust increases in contributions last year. Some groups were buoyed by donors who have kept contributing after initially giving in response to Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunamis.

The Brother’s Brother Foundation, for example, has been able to hold on to more than 30 percent of individuals who first gave in response to those disasters, says Luke Hingson, the charity’s president. Last year, he adds, was “a record,” yielding $1.5-million in cash contributions and another $328-million worth of donated goods.

Mercy Corps raised 10 percent more in 2007, a total of $92.2-million in cash and donated goods. “We exceeded all of our goals,” says Paul Dudley Hart, the charity’s senior vice president. Like several other international-relief groups, Mercy Corps expects to do even better this year, partly as a result of donors’ response to the earthquake in China and the cyclone in Myanmar.

Two months before the close of its fiscal year this month, the charity had surpassed its $32.5-million goal for cash donations, with $37.6-million in hand. That figure does not include contributions for disaster victims in China and Myanmar that have exceeded $7-million, including a $250,000 matching gift from Western Union for China. The company’s offer, which promised to match online gifts dollar for dollar, raised another $250,000 in just 12 hours.

International-relief groups that work in countries where the value of the dollar has plunged have a new fund-raising challenge this year. “The dollar has lost value in more of the countries we work in,” says Stephanie Kurzina, vice president for resource development at Oxfam America, which raised $61.6-million last year.

“What we have found is that we need to raise more money in the U.S. to make our dollar go as far as it used to,” Ms. Kurzina says. For example, she notes, in French West Africa, the dollar is now worth 15 percent less than a year ago.

Behind the numbers: Environmental groups say fund raising is growing fast as the nation begins to pay more attention to the threat of global warming and all things “green.”

Donations from all kinds of sources have grown, but groups like TreePeople, in Los Angeles, the Student Conservation Society, in Charlestown, N.H., and the Ocean Conservancy, in Washington, have all particularly benefited from money and other support from corporations.

“There’s more public pressure on them to develop their own sustainability initiatives and environmental response,” says Amelia Montjoy, senior vice president of resource development at the Ocean Conservancy. “We’re seeing companies now like Coca-Cola and Philip Morris and Bank of America create whole departments of environmental sustainability.”

However, Robert Holley, vice president for advancement at the Student Conservation Society, warns other groups that “there’s also a lot of ‘green washing’ that’s going on, and for the environmental community, all of us need to be careful about filtering out the companies that are there green-washing as opposed to making a genuine effort to change their practices to a more sound environmental-business model.”

The society has recently made sponsorship deals with the clothier American Eagle and Nature Valley, which makes granola bars. It says corporate giving grew by nearly 60 percent last year to $2-million. A $570,000 donation from ExxonMobil Foundation, in Houston, and $426,000 from Johnson Controls, in Milwaukee, made up almost half of that amount.

Caroline Preston contributed to this article.