Giving in the Recession

The story of charitable giving in the past few weeks is both hopeful and grim. In the hopeful category, The New York Times reported on Christmas Day that donations to its Neediest Cases Fund were up $500,000, and the number of donors was up 53%, from the same time last year, with six weeks of the campaign to go. The Fund, accepting donations from November 9 to February 6, supports seven social service agencies in New York City, and is promoted through daily profiles running in the Metro pages of people who have been helped by aid. Similar campaigns across the country are also reporting good results (and demonstrating at least one timely truth: the power of journalism).

In the grim category the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported this week that arts organizations are cutting programs and staff. In a separate article last month in the Chronicle, a survey of end of year giving showed many organizations taking in less private support. It seems that those who increase their giving won’t be able to make up for those who decrease their giving. Furthermore, increases in individual gifts may not make up for big decreases in other sources of funding such as corporate foundation grants.

The balancing act between self-interest and altruism is of course as old as time. How the balance plays out will have a significant impact on the nonprofit sector and the people at all levels of society who benefit from them.

Giving is a form of spending that brings with it meaningful gratification: It feels good to be needed and it helps to put one’s own situation in perspective. However, with the country going into a saving mode --well illustrated by a Wall Street Journal article yesterday about frugal families in Boise, Idaho--it looks like any spending decision will be carefully considered, and every dollar spent much appreciated.