Welcome Rebound for Charities

It’s heartening to learn that Americans opened their checkbooks and donated a hefty $143.5 billion to charitable organizations in 1997.

That’s according to a report this past week from the New York-based American Assn. for Fund-Raising Counsel. “This [past year] was one of the best years in at least a decade,” Ann Kaplan, the organization’s research director, said. The figure means that Americans have become about 15.5% more generous in the last two years.

By now, it should be common knowledge that the destitute and downtrodden in this nation and overseas have suffered greatly from this decade’s recession-driven drought in charitable donations. By some accounts, 1995 represented the bottom of the valley, with less giving than at any time since 1988.

Now, an improved economy has spurred an upswing, one that is aided by the increasing popularity of donation plans that make it easier to give more. One of those involves planned contributions in the form of charitable trusts that allow the donor to receive continuing income for a certain period while also enjoying tax benefits.

Nationally, Americans who itemized contributions averaged $2,449 in charitable deductions on their tax returns last year. Leading the way was Utah, with an average of $4,593 per tax return.

California’s average of $2,300 was well below that figure and also behind the contribution levels of Washington state, New York, Illinois, Florida and several other states. Not a terribly good showing; no doubt California giving was influenced by the lingering effects of a severe economic downturn and a series of natural and man-made disasters in the early 1990s.

Still, such Los Angeles charities as St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, which delivers food to the homebound, were pleased. As St. Vincent’s leader, Sister Alice Marie, put it, “we had a huge response after the riots and the earthquake, but people do give more when the economy is better.” Charities, the needy and indeed all of society experience a special warmth when a bigger paycheck, or a steadier one, translates into more giving.