Giving Is Up, O.C. Charities Say

Wall Street’s bull market is enriching more than stock investors. Charities in Orange County and across the nation saw a surge in donations during 2003, a philanthropic windfall that experts say is largely the result of an improving economy.

“The No. 1 predictor in personal giving is the Standard & Poors 500 index,” said Patrick Rooney, director of research at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

A survey released by the center in December found growing optimism among fund-raisers nationwide over the last six months. The center’s Philanthropic Giving Index -- a measure of confidence among nonprofits -- was at its highest level since 2001.

“To quote somebody much more famous than me, ‘It’s the economy, stupid,’ ” Rooney said.

The Orange County Community Foundation, which supports more than 200 charities, collected $18 million in 2003 -- a 125% increase over the year before. Nearly half of that came in since Oct. 1, said Shelley Hoss, foundation president.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in gifts of appreciated stock,” Hoss said. “It’s a good barometer of the economy and people’s confidence.”

The Salvation Army saw a 10% increase in cash donations in 2003, rebounding from a “pretty bad” 2002 that forced the Orange County branch of the national charity to scale back jobs through attrition, said county coordinator Lee Lescano.

“Giving picked up considerably, especially during the holidays,” Lescano said.

Goodwill Industries of Orange County estimates it took in $13 million last year, a 20% increase over 2002.

“When the economy’s bad, people are constantly seeing it in the news, they’re seeing it in their portfolios and they become cautious,” said Nicole Suydam, director of development for Goodwill, which aids people with disabilities. “Feeling confident about the economy makes them feel confident about their philanthropy.”

Although the Orange County Community Foundation benefited from donors seeking a tax break on stock gains, Goodwill, which receives the majority of its funding in the form of donated goods, was the beneficiary of increased consumer spending, the Center on Philanthropy’s Rooney said.

Call it the philanthropic trickle-down effect: People who buy things tend to give their castoffs to charity.

“I’ve got a fixed amount of closet space at my house,” Rooney said. “So if I go out and buy four new suits, I have to give four old suits away to places like Goodwill.”

But not every charity’s bottom line is so tied to the economy’s fluctuations. When word got out in November that Santa Ana officials were threatening to curtail the Catholic Worker’s homeless shelter because it lacked the proper permits, the nonprofit organization’s small -- and loyal -- base of benefactors responded.

One man wrote a check for $15,000. Another sent $5,000. A third offered to pay the rent on the Catholic Worker’s two-story craftsman home during 2004.

The donations led to a record fund-raising year for the group.

“We’re so tiny, if I write a really soulful Christmas card, it could mean an extra 30 grand,” said Dwight Smith, who heads the local Catholic Worker with his wife, Leia. “We’re a barometer of the ... mercy and faith of Orange County. Not the economy.”