September 11 Fund Discourages New Gifts; Studies Show Tragedy’s Effects on Charities

The September 11th Fund, which has collected more than $425-million in donations since the terrorist attacks four months ago, is urging donors to stop sending gifts. The fund, created by the United Way of New York City and the New York Community Trust, is instead asking donors to send contributions to other charities that are serving people who were not directly affected by the attacks.

“The philanthropic community must refocus on the unmet needs in our communities,” Lorie Slutsky, president of the New York Community Trust, said in a written statement. “The hungry and the homeless, schoolchildren, the elderly, all need our attention. And because of the weakening economy and the ripple effects of September 11th here in the City, those needs are growing.”

The September 11th Fund, which was initially criticized for its sluggish distribution of money, has so far given away more than $160-million, nearly all directly benefiting the victims of the terrorist attacks and their families.

Sixty-six percent of Americans donated money to September 11 relief efforts, making an average gift of $134, according to survey results released this month

In a poll of 1,304 adults that was conducted from late October through late November, 27 percent said they gave blood or made other types of noncash gifts. The survey was conducted on behalf of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

The median donation was $50, meaning that half gave more and half gave less. Seventy-four percent said their donations were $100 or less.

More information on the survey results can be found at http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu and http:// www.afpnet.org.

Americans are more interested in volunteering and helping others in the wake of the September 11 attacks, but that is no guarantee that they will translate that interest into significant or sustained action, says Robert Putnam, the Harvard University political scientist who wrote Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.

Mr. Putnam, who is conducting periodic surveys of Americans in a project supported by numerous foundations, said that he found a change in attitudes in polls taken before and after September 11. His conclusion, he says, is that “America’s level of political consciousness, engagement, and confidence are substantially higher than they were a year ago.”

For example, he said, the share of people who wanted to work on community-service projects rose 6 percentage points after September 11.

However, Mr. Putnam said the changed attitudes would not be long-lasting unless government, charities, and others took action to engage Americans. “Our data suggests that much of the measurable increase in generosity spent itself within a few weeks,” wrote Mr. Putnam in an article in the American Prospect magazine summarizing the results of his studies. The magazine can be found at http://www.prospect.org.

Social-services organizations in New York City may face a tough time garnering government and private support in coming months, says a new report by Bain & Company, a management-consulting company, conducted for the New York City Partnership, a business advocacy group.

After examining data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the New York City Nonprofit Organization Database, New York State Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Charities, and other sources, and conducting interviews with 26 nonprofit groups in New York City, the author of the report predicts that many charities will face a short-term decrease in funds of 5 to 10 percent and long-term decreases of 10 to 30 percent.

New York’s city and state governments have traditionally paid charities to provide many types of social services. As a result, New York City service organizations rely on the government for 50 to 70 percent of their funds, the report says, compared with other U.S. cities, where the average amount of government support is closer to 40 percent. But New York’s governments were hit hard by the September 11 attacks and are now facing serious cutbacks. Private funds may not cover the shortfall, since many donors, especially in the New York area, are cutting back because of economic woes or because they have already committed money to September 11 causes, the report says.

More information on the report may be found by contacting Cristina Paquette at Bain at (646) 562-7813.

Large foundations have not significantly changed their grant making in reaction to September 11, according to the results of a survey of 32 large foundations released this month.

Only two had changed their grant-making priorities in a major way in response to the tragedy; another eight foundations reported that they had “hastened entry into new project areas that were already under consideration.” But altogether more than two-thirds of the foundations surveyed said that nothing had changed.

The survey was conducted in October by Douglas Gould & Company, a consultimg company in Larchmont, N.Y., along with the Communications Network, an organization that represents public-relations officials of foundations.

More information on the survey can be found at http://www.douglasgould.com.

Confidence in charities has remained high since the September 11 attacks and the subsequent controversy at the American Red Cross, according to a survey conducted for the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, and its Center for Public Service.

The December survey commissioned by the center shows that 86 percent of 500 Americans contacted had at least some confidence in charities, a slightly lower percentage than a survey of over 4,000 yielded in July, when 90 percent of respondents said they had confidence in the ability of charities to carry out their missions. That survey was conducted for Independent Sector, in Washington, a group of nonprofit organizations.

The Brookings Institution’s December survey also asked about 500 people to assess their feelings on charities after the Red Cross’s chief executive, Bernadine P. Healy, resigned her post amid allegations that the Red Cross had misled donors .

An overwhelming majority — 89 percent — expressed confidence in the American Red Cross. The survey results also show that 60 percent of those polled said they were following very or fairly closely press accounts of the American Red Cross story and of distribution efforts by the September 11th Fund. United Way, which worked with New York Community Trust to form the fund, fared less well in the survey, with 77 percent of respondents expressing confidence in the organization.

The survey results are to be published by Brookings in March in Pathways to Nonprofit Excellence, a book written by Paul Light, the think tank’s vice president and director of governmental studies.

Michael Anft and Debra E. Blum contributed to this article.