Although some recent economic news offers positive signs, the outlook for donations continues to show little indication of improvement. In the wake of the poor economy, donors appear to have become more pessimistic about the future of economic recovery. These are a few of the conclusions of a new Barna Research Study. Many Americans appear to be significantly cutting back on charitable giving in order to adjust to the downturn.
Nearly half of all adults said they had reduced their giving to non-profit organizations, excluding churches and houses of worship in the last three months. Churches were slightly less likely to be affected but were certainly not immune to cutbacks: three out of ten Americans had dropped their level of support to churches and congregations. In recent months when compared to a similar Barna Study conducted in the fourth quarter of 2008, that is when the economy began to plummet. There has been a 58% increase in the percentage of Americans who have curtailed their recent giving to non-profits and a 45% increase in the proportion that have reduced their
donations to churches.
While many church donors have been able to maintain their typical level of donations, those who have cut back have dropped their giving substantially. Nearly one-quarter of church donors had cut contributions by 20% or more. That compares with just one-tenth who had done so in the first few months of the crisis. In other words, the segment of donors who have dramatically decreased their contributions to churches has more than doubled in the last 14 months. Question, should we pray more about where and how much to give? Doesn’t it seem that God would delight in our conversation with him about such an important issue.
This is Carl Ramsey and that’s Another View of the News.
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