More Than a Quarter of Wealthiest Americans Say Recession Led to Cuts in Charitable Giving, Survey Finds

Twenty-eight percent of wealthy Americans say the recession has caused them to cut back on the total amount of money they give to charity, according to the annual Wealth and Values Survey, by PNC Wealth Management.

Although such donors have reduced their giving, 55 percent of the respondents said they still believe they have a responsibility to donate to the nonprofit groups, about the same percentage who indicated such a view in the last three years’ surveys.

Many wealthy donors expressed concern about their ability to continue to support charities. Among respondents with $5-million or more in assets that can be invested, 24 percent said they were worried about their ability to give to charity, while only 16 percent of those with between $500,000 and $1-million in assets expressed the same concern.

The study surveyed 1,046 wealthy Americans who have at least $500,000 in assets that can be invested or annual incomes of more than $150,000. It was conducted online in September and October of 2009 by Harris Interactive.

The survey’s findings mirror those of The Chronicle’s reporting in it’s annual Philanthropy 50 list released in February.

That list, a ranking of the most-generous donors of 2009, showed a dramatic drop in total giving last year by the nation’s most-generous philanthropists. Donors who landed on the list gave a total of just $4.1-billion in 2009, compared to $15.5-billion given in 2008.

For more information about recently announced large donations from American donors, go to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s America’s Top Donors page, a searchable online database of major charitable donations.