US charitable giving is estimated to have grown 1.7 per cent in 2012 from the previous year. However, had it not been for Super Storm Sandy in October, it might well have gone down, according to latest data from Blackbaud’s Charitable Giving Report. Following Sandy, there was a huge boost to giving in the months following, peaking in December at 17.69 per cent over the previous year.

Who benefited? Small organizations apparently did best, with a 7.3 per cent overall increase, while large organizations lost ground, declining by 0.3 per cent. Some interesting points to note: giving to faith-based organizations grew by 6.1 per cent, according to the Blackbaud data, which is based on a survey of 3,144 non-profits. This boosted overall giving since religious organizations receive the greatest share of giving (last year’s Giving USA report showed giving to religion at 32 per cent of all giving by individuals in 2011). Arts and culture, environment, education and animal welfare all grew slightly in 2012, each increasing by between one and two per cent. International affairs was the biggest loser, declining 4.7 per cent, followed by healthcare, which dropped 3.4 per cent.

Another notable trend is the increase in online giving, with all sizes of organization seeing growth: medium-sized organizations ($1 million to $10 million) of 14.3 per cent, small organizations (less than $1 million) of 11.8 per cent and large organizations of 7.2 per cent. That said, online giving still accounts for less than 10 per cent of all giving by individuals.

Source
NonProfit Times, 4 February 2013