Charitable giving down in U.S., what about Western New York?

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A new report by Giving USA finds charitable giving is down for only the fourth time in four decades. Post-COVID changes have affected some donations to the United Way, while tragedies have prompted more donations to FeedMore WNY.

Giving USA says total charitable giving was down 3.4% in 2022 to $499.3 billion in current dollars, a drop of 10.5% when adjusted for inflation.

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Trina Burruss of the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County says her organization has been affected like others around the country. "United Way's main way of raising funds is the workplace campaign model, and with the changes in the workplace post-COVID, we believe that to be sort of a major factor in what's happening," notes Burruss. However, she says, the workplace campaign model did raise $9.1 million.

Burruss says the real challenge is getting the message out donations are still needed. "We're having to look for more creative ways to do that, technology, videos, that sort of thing," says Burruss. She says there are still strong relationships with corporate stakeholders like Wegmans and M&T Bank. "That's going to give us hope, that this is sort of temporary, based on inflation as we move forward," adds Burruss.

FeedMore's Catherine Shick says it's tough for her group to compare 2022 to 2023 when it comes to donations. That's in part to huge donations after 5/14 and the Christmas blizzard. But this is the time of year where donations dip. "We have seen, especially this time of year, our giving amounts tend to level out not just in terms of food drives, but fund drives," says Shick.

Shick says there's always a need for individuals and companies to hold individual food drives. "Especially this time of the year, we tend to see donations drop off, especially during the summer months giving is just not top of mind. But unfortunately, the need is immense," says Shick.

According to the Giving USA report, 64% of donations in 2022 came from individual donors, 21% from foundations, 9% from bequests, generally through a will or estate plan, and 6% from corporations.