Donations to environment/animals organizations fell to an estimated $6.58 billion in 2008.
This is a decline of 5. 5 percent ( 9 percent adjusted for inflation).
This subsector is 2 percent of total estimated giving.
The environment/animals subsector includes zoos and aquariums; botanical gardens and horticultural programs; humane societies and other animal rescue organizations; wildlife and habitat preservation groups; and groups working for pollution abatement or control. It also includes programs for environmental education, outdoor survival, and beautification of open spaces.
Giving USA findings for giving to environment/animals organizations, 2008 The estimate for the change in giving to organizations in the environment/ animals subsector is based on the historical relationship between giving to environment/animals charities and broader economic trends. 1 Specifically, the estimate looks at changes in per sonal income, changes in wealth as measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, and changes in giving in the recent past.
Giving USA will revise the estimates of giving to environment/animals organi zations and all other subsectors as more data become available. The final figures will be based on data compiled from IRS Forms 990 by the National Center for Charitable Statistics.
Trends in giving to the environment/ animals subsector Using Giving USA data, two different ways of measuring trends in giving to environment/animals organizations are presented. The first looks at giving to these organizations during recession
years. The second shows the trend in giving to the environment/animals sub sector over time, measured per house hold (including all environment/animals donations divided by all households).
In prior recession years from 1987 to 2006, giving to environment/animals organizations averaged an inflation adjusted increase of 6. 2 percent from the prior year. The range was from a growth of 5 percent in 1990 to a growth of over 8 percent in 2001. Note that data collection on giving to environ ment/animals organizations only began in 1987; therefore, only three recession years are included in this analysis up through 2006.2
Using a standardized measure of giving to environment/animals organizations allows us to compare contributions to this subsector over time. One standard measure is to estimate giving per household. To do this, the sum of con tributions from all sources (not just households) is divided by the number of households in the country. Table 1 shows the results for giving to the
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