U.S. Giving Tops Nearly $300 billion
Nonprofits Expect Even Better Year in 2007

By Jeffrey Byrne, President & CEO
Kansas City

Giving USA, the preeminent source that tracks charitable giving each year, reported in June that giving in the United States reached $295 billion during 2006. This reflects a one percent increase in giving over 2005, and represents three straight years of growth since the economic slump of 2001 through 2003.

Giving USA reports that, once again, individuals contributed a record $245.80 billion. When broken down between bequests and living gifts, 75.6 percent of the total was from living individuals, while 7.8 percent was left through bequests. Actually, bequest giving saw a small decrease of 5.1 percent from the previous year, while individual giving increased by 1.2 percent over 2005.

Corporations continued to give roughly 4.3 percent, or $12.72 billion of overall gifts, and foundations provided the remaining 12.4 percent, or $36.50 billion. Corporate giving was down by 10.5 percent from 2005, and many corporations reported that in 2006 disaster-related giving was not part of corporate budgets. Instead, they said, when disasters occur, they will continue to contribute from other corporate sources. However, foundation giving increased 9.1 percent in 2006. This might be due to the phenomenal growth in assets as a result of the stock market. To see a chart showing giving by source, click here.

A few “ah-has” from Giving USA for your consideration.

June 26, 2006, represented one of the largest announcements about giving in our country’s history when billionaire Warren Buffet, alongside Bill and Melinda Gates, announced that he was giving 85 percent of his assets to charity. At the end of 2006 that represented $43.5 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family funds established for his children and deceased wife. Mr. Buffet pledged $30 billion to the Gates Foundation and the remaining balance to his family’s foundations.

Shockingly, however, there was little notice of the magnitude of this gift because Mr. Buffet paid only 5 percent of the balance to the foundations. No single lump sum will be donated until the death of Mr.  Buffet.

Second, while corporate giving was down (10.5 percent over 2005), fundraisers must keep in mind that this is in relation to atypically high levels of corporate giving in the previous two years due to relief efforts to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the Asian tsunamis. It underscores a lesson that is important to keep in perspective as you examine any of the numbers from Giving USA:  Because the numbers often highlight changes year-over-year, you must look at longer trends to glean a sense of direction about giving from a particular group of donors (e.g., individuals, foundations, corporations, etc.) or to a particular sector (arts, religion, education, etc.)

Third, giving to arts and culture increased to $12.5 billion in 2006, a 6.5 percent increase. Education giving increased by 6 percent to $41 billion during the same period. Religion, once again, is the leading recipient of charitable funds, with an increase of 1.2 percent and overall giving totaling $96.8 billion. Giving to healthcare stood at $20.2 billion, but that represents a decrease of 5.4 percent over 2005, and social services saw a 12 percent decrease for its total share of $29.6 billion. Finally, in contrast to the experience in prior years, giving to environmental and international organizations decreased 1.3 and 12 percent, respectively. Environmental giving totaled $6.6 billion and international giving totaled $11.3 billion. To see a chart showing recipients of giving by sector, click here.
                                                                                                          
Overall, Giving USA reports that giving was robust in 2006, and non-profits surveyed by The Chronicle on Philanthropy for a June 28, 2007 article expect giving during 2007 will be even stronger. That’s good news for worthy organizations and projects that work hard to increase their share of the charitable pie.

 Jeffrey Byrne & Associates, Inc., is one of 38 firms across America that belong to the Giving Institute which, in conjunction with the Giving USA Foundation, publishes the Giving USA report. For a deeper understanding of giving in America in 2006, please join us on Wednesday, July 18, at Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial, where we have partnered with the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation & Affiliated Trusts to host a presentation on Giving USA by Dr.  Patrick Rooney, Director of Research for the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. For more information please visit our website at www.fundraisingjba.com or call 1.800.222.9233