Individual charitable giving totaled $217.3 billion in 2009, down some $11.2 billion from the estimated $228.5 billion given by individuals in 2008, a new report from the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College finds. To be published in the July/August issue of the Association of Fundraising Professionals‘ Advancing Philanthropy magazine, the report found that last year’s 4.9 percent decline in individual giving (also known as household giving) followed a similar decline in 2008, when individual giving was down 6 percent from the previous year. This year, in contrast, individual giving totals are expected to range from $222 billion to $227 billion, a year-over-year increase of between 3 percent and 4.5 percent.
The report’s findings are based on estimates produced quarterly by CWP’s Individual Giving Model, which was launched last year to estimate how recent changes in financial resources affect the aggregate level of household giving. The report’s authors, John Havens and Paul Schervish, expanded and recalibrated the IGM based on data available in mid-April from the Federal Reserve, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Association of Realtors, Standard and Poor’s, Dow Jones, and other sources.
“We’re very optimistic about the growth in charitable giving in 2010 predicted by the Individual Giving Model,” said AFP president and CEO Paulette V. Maehara. “The research developed by the Boston College Center on Wealth and Philanthropy certainly corresponds with what fundraisers experienced last year and what we’re seeing so far in 2010. I believe the Giving Model will be an important tool for fundraisers, especially as it is refined even further in the future.”
“2009 Household Charitable Giving Down 5 Percent From 2008.”Center on Wealth and Philanthropy Press Release 5/27/10.
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