Holiday Giving May Be Meager, But Hope is Around the Corner
Well, the numbers are starting to come in on this year’s holiday giving trends. Unfortunately, it’s not the great news that some have been hoping for. Essentially, 2009’s end-of-year donations appear to be a reflection of sorts of what the last two economically challenging years have left us.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy conducted a poll over the past week of nearly 400 charities and found that more than half of the respondents anticipate donations to decline this holiday season. More than a third thought their numbers would drop by more than 10%. Not that this is too surprising really. It’s a numbers game after all. For the majority of donors there was simply fewer dollars to give and charities (and the clients they serve) suffered as a result. It didn’t matter if a nonprofit was big or small, focused on education or human services, every organization was impacted. Among the notables that the Chronicle pointed out were:
- The Salvation Army, which raised close to $1.9 billion last year, reports that contributions to its year-end kettle drive are down more than 8%. This is in spite of the fact that this year many of the kettles were equipped to handle credit cards and people could donate via iPhones, etc.
- Catholic Charities USA is now more than $2.6 million behind their goal to raise $7.1 million by the end of the year. Dollars raised through this campaign were to be used for disaster response preparation, professional training and advocacy on behalf of the poor.
- On a smaller scale, Urban Alliance, which helps at-risk high school students in the District of Columbia find jobs, has so far raised only $4,250 through its direct mail campaign – less than half of what it received for the same period in 2008.
Hope is around the Corner
However, there is something in the air that makes people believe that 2010 will be a much better year for donors and nonprofits alike. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University released the latest results from the Philanthropic Giving Index (PGI) this week.
Similar to a Consumer Confidence Index, which we hear about so often in the economic news, the PGI measures attitudes about the current charitable giving climate. It is based on a semi-annual survey of nonprofit fundraising professionals across the country and scored on a scale of 0 to 100. Essentially the higher a score, the more positive the respondents’ attitudes are. In spite of the weak holiday giving, this time all the indexes showed an improvement over where they were six months ago.
“Right now, fundraising is extraordinarily difficult for charities,” said Timothy L. Seiler, director of The Fund Raising School at the Center on Philanthropy. “Donors and fundraisers remain wary about the economy. Yet these findings suggest that fundraisers either have indications from donors that things may be beginning to get better, or they are optimistic that the situation will improve and they are confident in their nonprofit’s ability to earn donors’ contributions.”
This on top of reports that show contributions to donor-advised funds appears to be on the rise as well as charitable donations being made in stock. Indeed, next year looks to be a much more promising year for the nonprofit sector.
Yet, even as wewe begin this new chapter, donors would do well to remember the lessons that the last couple of years have taught us. During our recent “lean” season, some donors have found themselves being forced to decide what causes are really the most important to them while others have had to focus in on the organizations that they believe are really having the most impact. Other donors have realized that to truly make the difference they are hoping for, they need help and counsel from other stakeholders. Applying the lessons of 2008-2009 to 2010’s charitable giving will result in a more meaningful giving experience and ultimately mean more lives changed for the better.
With that, I wish you a warm and happy holiday season.
-Christopher
