Despite Rough Economy, Americans Still Planning to Donate This Year

Will this holiday season be a cheerful one for charities?

A Salvation Army volunteer rings the bell as a passer-by puts money in a red kettle at Harvard Square in Cambridge

(AP Photo)

The last two months of the year rate as prime time for giving, but in 2008 Americans are reeling from a perfect storm of economic news. Even so, there are signs that many will stay with their generous ways.

A first-time national survey of online consumers released Monday finds that 51 percent (89 million people) plan to donate to nonprofit groups via the Internet during November or December. Sixty-seven percent of those will donate the same amount or more than last year. Thirty-three percent say they'll be giving less.

That will add about $3 billion to the coffers of charities at a time of rising need, according to Convio, the Austin-based Web-services firm that commissioned the survey. Online giving is a small but mushrooming portion of total charitable giving.

At the same time, some major charities are buoyed by support from loyal donors. The American Red Cross (ARC), for example, is five weeks into a national campaign seeking $100 million for its disaster relief fund and has already raised $50 million.

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"This is encouraging, considering the state of things," says ARC spokesman Jonathan Aiken, and it raises hopes for the holidays. ARC chapters rely on year-end giving as the "bread-and-butter season."

Americans Give, Even in Recessions

The good news is that, historically, charitable giving overall has not declined much during hard economic times. That's the finding from Giving USA Foundation, which in September released a report that looks at the trends over the past 40 years, including several periods of recession.

"While charitable giving is impacted by recessions and/or economic slowdowns, it's not by ... as much as one might expect," said George Ruotolo Jr., chair of the Giving Institute, on releasing the study.

During recessions since 1967, total giving has dropped by an average rate of 1 percent, and individual giving declined by 1.5 percent, adjusted for inflation. (Giving by individuals accounts for about 80 percent of total giving.) In current dollars, giving actually increased by an average of 6.2 percent during recessions.