Charitable giving by individuals, foundations, and corporations to nonprofit groups increased about 3.6 percent last year, barely keeping pace with inflation, according to an annual philanthropy report released last week.
Last year, education groups fared slightly better than the nonprofit sector as a whole, with a 5.25 percent increase over 1993.
Nonprofit education groups received $16.7 billion last year, according to “Giving U.S.A.,” the report issued by the American Association of Fundraising Council’s Trust for Philanthropy, based in New York City.
Human Service
Giving increased across all sectors of nonprofit groups except for “human service” organizations, which experienced a decline of 8.8 percent.
The human-service sector, as defined in the “Giving U.S.A.” report, includes poverty programs, housing, public protection, job training, natural-disaster relief, youth programs, services to the handicapped, and senior citizens’ centers.
Ann Kaplan, the editor of “Giving U.S.A.,” said it was not clear why the decline in that sector occurred.
However, she said the decline in giving to human-service programs “highlight[s] the inability of voluntary giving to replace government funding.”
In 1994, for example, total contributions to human-service groups represented less than half of total payments under the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, Ms. Kaplan pointed out.
New Ways To Give?
Contributions from corporations increased only 1 percent last year, compared with a 3.89 percent in giving by individuals, a 2.7 percent increase in bequests, and a 4 percent increase in foundation giving.
J. Patrick Ryan, the chairman of the fund-raising association, attributed the slower rate of growth to the changing nature of corporate philanthropy.
Mr. Ryan suggested that the increasing tendency of cor~porations to support nonprofit organizations in a variety of nontraditional ways--including low-interest loans, licensing agreements, event sponsorships, or campaigns to promote employee volunteerism and giving--rather than direct grants makes it more difficult to accurately measure philanthropic activity.
“Companies are spreading out the responsibility for making the gift among more people in their companies,” Ms. Kaplan said.
“Instead of just being the C.E.O., it might be the chief financial officer or people in marketing and advertising departments,” she said.
Companies are also increasing their matching-grant programs and expanding the types of organizations that are eligible for gifts through such programs to include elementary and secondary schools, environmental groups, and various other charitable organizations, in addition to the traditional college alumni funds.
