Arts & Culture giving down 6.4% in 2008

A report by The Giving USA Foundation says that charitable giving to arts/culture/humanities organizations was down 6.4% in 2008, higher than the average decline in nonprofit giving of 2%.

An article from the Associated Press summarizes the situation, saying that although the situation is bad, it was not unexpected and, actually, was not as bad as many feared it would be:

"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 released Wednesday....

The last previous overall drop in giving was in 1987, the year of the record-shattering Black Monday stock market collapse.

The Giving USA Foundation, which has conducted the survey since 1956, expressed relief that the 2008 decrease was not worse, given that many Americans lost more than 2 percent of their wealth during the year.

However, the report underscored the daunting circumstances facing America's nonprofits, many of which have been forced to lay off staff and cut programs because of declining revenue."

Not surprisingly, Giving USA predicts that 2009 will continue to be difficult, which many of us nonprofit fundraisers could attest to.

Read the full article here and learn more about the report here