NEW YORK — Charitable giving by Americans fell by 2 percent in 2008 as the recession took root, only the second year-to-year decline in more than a half-century, according to an authoritative annual survey being released today.
Hit particularly hard were social-service charities, which suffered a 12.7 percent drop in donations at a time when most of them reported increased demand for their services.
The last previous overall drop in giving was in 1987, the year of the Black Monday stock market collapse.
The Giving USA Foundation, which has conducted the survey since 1956, reported that total giving in 2008 was $307.65 billion, down from a record $314.07 billion in 2007. Two-thirds of public charities experienced decreases — among the few sectors to improve were religious and international affairs organizations.
