Americans gave about two hundred ninety billion dollars to charity last year.
That was ten billion dollars more than the amount of charitable giving in two
thousand nine. The estimates are from the Giving USA Foundation and its research
partner, the R&D Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Charities
are nonprofit organizations that raise money to provide social services or other
programs. Giving USA has been reporting on charitable donations since nineteen
fifty-six. The group estimates that about seventy-five million households gave
to at least one charitable organization in the United States last year. A
household is one or more people living in a home.
Charity workers dressed as
Santa Claus pass St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City in an annual parade to
raise money for a holiday food program for needy residents
The largest share
of charitable giving goes to religious groups. Giving USA says they received
thirty-five percent of all donations in twenty-ten. Some people give a
percentage of their pay to religious organizations.
Schools and other
education-related organizations were second on the list. They received an
estimated fourteen percent of all charitable giving last year.
The federal
tax agency, the Internal Revenue Service, recognizes donations to official
charities. Those who give to charity may be able to get tax breaks and reduce
the amount of taxes they owe.
People who give to charity may want to know how
their donations are being spent. Organizations like Charity Navigator and the
American Institute of Philanthropy look at how charities spend the money they
receive. Their reports and ratings offer a measure of how effectively the
charities use their money. For example, donors can learn how much a group spends
on services, compared to how much it spends on itself in administrative
costs.
Charity Navigator recently asked donors and charities to answer
questions about year-end giving trends this year. More than five hundred donors
and one hundred charities completed the questionnaire.
On average, these
charities said they received forty-one percent of all their donations in the
last few weeks of the year. Charity Navigator also asked donors about the kinds
of charities they would likely support this holiday season. Human services rated
at the top of the list. Arts, culture and humanities rated at the
bottom.
