Americans gave 260 billion dollars to charities in 2006

AFP, June, 2006

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US charitable giving rose 6.1 percent to 260.28 billion dollars in 2005, fueled by record responses to three major natural disasters around the globe, a study showed.

The report by the Giving USA Foundation tallied some 7.37 billion dollars in disaster relief -- including the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in the United States and the major earthquake in Pakistan last October -- that accounted for much of the increase in giving.

Without these extra amounts, charitable giving would have been essentially flat, after adjusting for inflation, the report noted.

"Disaster relief certainly played a role in 2005," said Richard Jolly, chair of the foundation.

"Relief contributions are estimated to be roughly three...