NATIONAL BRIEFING / NATIONWIDE
Charitable giving by Americans fell by 2% in 2008 as the recession took root, only the second year-to-year decline in more than half a century, according to an authoritative annual survey.
Particularly hard-hit were social-service charities, with a 12.7% drop. The last previous overall drop in giving was in 1987, the year of the record-shattering Black Monday stock market collapse.
The Giving USA Foundation, which has conducted the survey since 1956, expressed relief that the 2008 decrease was not worse, given that many Americans lost more than 2% of their wealth during the year.
According to the report, total giving in 2008 was $307.65 billion, down from a record $314.07 billion in 2007. Two-thirds of public charities experienced decreases. Among the few sectors to improve were religious and international affairs organizations.
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