Get it together do-gooders - National Commission on Philanthropy and Civic Renewal report says that Americans are generous donors

American Demographics, Jan, 1998 by Shelly Reese

As individuals, corporations, and institutions, Americans are generous donors to charitable causes. Yet their giving is fragmented, and many organizations who receive it spend too much time in study and not enough in direct service. These are among the criticisms in a new report from the National Commission on Philanthropy and Civic Renewal.

In 1995, individuals, foundations, corporations, and charitable bequests gave $144 billion to nonprofit organizations. The distribution of that largess, however, was far from uniform and largely dependent on whether the donor was an institution or an individual.

Foundations, the biggest institutional givers, account for $10 billion, or 7 percent of annual contributions. Their beneficiaries are most often organizations dedicated to education (29 percent), human services (15 percent), health (15 percent), and the arts (1 percent).

Corporations, about 30 per cent of which donate to charity, accounted for $7.4 billion, or about 5 percent of annual non-profit contributions. Their giving patterns resemble those of foundations, in regard to educational institutions. They receive roughly one-third of all corporate gifts. Many of these donations probably result from matching gift programs, in which employers match worker contributions to higher education. Health and human-service groups also score big with corporations, netting 26 percent of the dollars given.

All those institutional dollars may sound big, but individuals account for the bulk of money donated to charity. And they overwhelmingly favor churches and religious organizations. Fifty-seven percent of the $116 billion they donated in 1995 went to religious non-profits.

Donors should judge not just the activities of their beneficiaries, but their effectiveness, says John Barry, a research associate with the commission. "Good intentions are fine, but if a charity is not effective, donors need to start over," he says.

Copies of the 132-page report Renewing Philanthropy in America are available for $20 from the National Commission on Philanthropy and Civic Renewal; telephone (202) 463-1460.