Pubdate: Wed, 26 May 1999 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: Karen W. Arenson Charitable Giving Set Record in '98, Report Says Pushed by a healthy economy and the rising stock market, charitable giving by Americans climbed 11 percent to a record $175 billion last year, according to estimates in a report made public on Tuesday. The figures represented the third consecutive year of double-digit growth and strong gains for many charitable organizations. The only area that showed a decline was arts, culture and humanities. In contrast, donations to environmental and wildlife groups and health and human service organizations grew by 20 percent or more. "Many people speculate that we're entering the golden age of philanthropy, and as practitioners, many of us are experiencing that," said Jimmie R. Alford, chairman of the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel, whose nonprofit arm, the AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy, publishes the report, Giving USA. "We're seeing some unprecedented gifts," added Alford, a fund-raising consultant in Skokie, Ill. Despite the gains, the new figures are sure to stir debate over how generous Americans really are. Although charitable giving kept pace with rising incomes last year, it did not come close to matching the hefty increases in the stock market in 1998, when the Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks rose 27 percent. "The very top group could be giving 10 times more than they do and not impair their wealth at all," said Claude Rosenberg, a former investment adviser in San Francisco who set up the Newtithing Group, a nonprofit group that encourages people to think of donations in terms of their wealth, not their income. Individuals did raise their giving 10 percent last year to $135 billion, according to the 1999 edition of Giving USA. As always, individuals accounted for most of the giving: 77 percent of the total in 1998. Bequests added $13.6 billion, an 8 percent increase. Giving by foundations showed the biggest gain last year, rising 23 percent to $17 billion. Foundations are required by law to give away an amount equal to 5 percent of their assets, although they can measure their assets over a period of years. Corporate giving, $9 billion, rose 9 percent, and amounted to 1 percent of corporate pretax income in 1998. While individual giving rose slightly relative to personal income last year, reaching 1.9 percent for the first time since 1973, officials of the association acknowledged Tuesday that income might not be as useful a yardstick as it has been in the past. "Income is almost beside the point when personal wealth has increased so sharply," said Nancy L. Raybin, a fund-raiser in New York City and chairwoman of the AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy. Paul G. Schervish, director of the Social Welfare Research Institute at Boston College, called wealthy individuals a sleeping giant for philanthropy. Schervish said many such people were planning for future philanthropy through bequests or programs like Fidelity Investments' Charitable Gifts fund, which lets individuals create tax-deductible pools of money that function somewhat like personal foundations. Ms. Raybin said many individuals also contributed directly to personal foundations last year. Gifts to foundations totaled $17 billion in 1998, a 16 percent increase, much of it from individuals. Four other areas of giving showed especially large gains: environmental and wildlife organizations (up 28 percent to $5.3 billion), human services (up 27 percent to $16.1 billion), health organizations (up 20 percent to $16.9 billion), and public benefit organizations, including civil rights, public affairs, consumer protection and scientific development groups (up 30 percent to $10.9 billion). The only area of giving that declined was arts, culture and the humanities, where contributions fell almost 1 percent from the previous year, to $10.5 billion. Religion remained the largest area of giving, with $76.1 billion in donations last year, up about 5 percent from 1997. But while it represented half of all giving through much of the 1970s and the early '80s, by last year it made up only 44 percent of charitable giving. Education represented the second largest area of charitable donations, with $24.6 billion in gifts, an increase of 11 percent from 1997. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake