350

Total giving, 1968–2008 ($ in billions)

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

1968

1973

1978

1983

1988

1993

1998

2003

2008

Inflation-adjusted dollars Inflation-adjusted dollars during recessions Current dollars

 

Total giving has increased in current dollars in every year but two: 1987 and 2008.

Adjusted for inflation, giving typically increases in non-recession years and falls in recession years.

Not shown on the graph is giving during the Great Depression (1929 to 1933). In 1930, itemized individual giving fell 7. 6 percent. It rose in 1931 and fell 20 percent between 1931 and 1932. In 1933, it fell another 5. 3 percent. During the Great Depression, Gross Domestic Product fell 25 percent; unemployment reached as high as 38 percent; and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85 percent from its pre-Depression high to the lowest value during the Depression (1932).

The 1973–1975 recession, the longest on record between 1933 and 2007, saw a cumulative drop in total giving of 9. 2 percent. The worst single-year decline between the Depression and 2007 was in 1974 when total giving fell 5. 4 percent, adjusted for inflation.

In 1987, total giving fell 4. 7 percent, following an unusual increase ( 14 percent) in 1986. The increase followed a well-publicized tax law change. In 1987, the law limited tax deductions for charitable contributions. Many people “pre-gave” in 1986 to maximize their tax deductions.

In 2008, total giving fell an estimated 5. 7 percent, adjusted for inflation. The recession that began in December 2007 continued into 2009, and many charity leaders are planning for the possibility that giving in the second year will be even lower than in the first year of the downturn.