Nation’s Charities Predict Troubled Times Ahead

As nonprofit fund raisers embark on the most important period of the year for landing donations, charity leaders are bracing for a lean year, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Charitable giving reached $306-billion in 2007, with almost 75 percent coming from individual donors. Charity experts think people of average means may curtail their giving this year as they worry about losing their savings and investment earnings in the wake of the plummeting financial markets.

Charity leaders are also worried about falling corporate donations. The pending sale of Wachovia to Citigroup, for example, caused alarm among charities in Charlotte, N.C., where Wachovia had its headquarters. Wachovia is one of the region’s largest contributors to local nonprofit groups, giving more than $8-million to Charlotte charities last year, reports The Charlotte Observer.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire charities are fighting to retain donations, especially to food banks, where leaders say the poor economy is causing a crisis, New Hampshire’s WMUR.com reports.