Philanthropy News & Analysis

2010 Voluntary Support of Education Findings Released

September 13, 2011

The Council for Aid to Education has released the findings of its 2010 Voluntary Support of Education survey. Contributions to colleges and universities reached $28 billion last year, a 0.5 percent increase from 2009. While overall support in 2010 was comparable to 2006 levels, 51.7 percent of responding institutions reported an increase in contributions, up from one third in 2009. Stanford University was the top fundraising institution, followed by Harvard and Johns Hopkins. See the Top 20 Institutions list

AHP Report on Charitable Giving in U.S. and Canada

September 27, 2010

From the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), September 27, 2010: "Snapshots of charitable support in 2009 have produced two very different pictures for nonprofit health care institutions in the United States and Canada." The Association’s Annual Report on Giving indicated donations dropped $944 million in the US last year from 2008 levels, while rising $56 million in Canada." See the report on charitable giving

United States Ranks Fifth in Survey of Giving Habits Around the World

September 19, 2010

From the Chronicle of Philanthropy, September 19, 2010: "The United States tied for fifth place with Switzerland in a new survey on giving habits in 153 countries, with Australia and New Zealand taking the top spots." The World Giving Index 2010—prepared by Charities Aid Foundation, a British organization—found that 60 percent of Americans had donated money to an organization, 39 percent had volunteered their time to an organization, and 65 percent had helped a stranger in the previous month.

A country’s overall ranking is based on the average score of those three categories and comes from data collected by Gallup’s WorldView World Poll in March 2010. Giving money or time to an organization could include political parties or groups as well as charities, the report said." See the story in Chronicle of Philanthropy

Colleges See Prospective Donors Among New Students

August 26, 2010

August 26, 2010: "On a growing number of campuses, first-year students are hearing another message: Please give.... Not for tuition, but instead as a young donor. With alumni-giving rates at record lows and lagging state support of postsecondary education, public and private schools alike are focusing their efforts on building lifetime loyalty among still-impressionable students." See the story in the Boston Globe

Strategy Key as Arts Groups Launch Simultaneous Campaigns

August 21, 2010

From Indianapolis Business Journal, August 21, 2010: "Last year was not the first time the arts landed a smaller piece of the pie," said Kathleen Kavanagh, senior executive vice president at Grenzebach Glier and Associates in Chicago, which is consulting with the Indianapolis Museum of Art on its strategy...Kavanagh said her firm’s cultural clients aren’t scaling back their goals, but they recognize it may take longer to achieve them. “It’s been a time of very careful planning,” she said.
See the story in the Indianapolis Business Journal [subscription required]