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America's Charities Gains in Giving Despite Recession

In all, people in the workplace gave more than $35.6 million through America's Charities, up from $33.1 million in 2009. The $2.5 million increase is a 7.5 percent jump, almost double the increase recorded in overall giving by the Giving USA Foundation. These funds are being distributed to more than 5,000 charities that are either members of America's Charities or were designated by contributors in workplace employee giving campaigns.

"Despite the fragile economy, despite all the worries that charitable giving was going to decrease, our federations had strong results that far outpaced the overall increase to all charities from donors nationwide," said Steve Delfin, President and CEO of America's Charities. "These results prove that low-cost, donor-driven, employee workplace giving campaigns work. Donors want a choice of charities, they want to be sure their charities get their money promptly, and they want accountability. America's Charities offers all that and more to employer-run campaigns."

While overall national giving was up 3.8 percent before inflation, workplace giving to campaigns managed by America's Charities and to its member organizations rose at almost twice the national rate.

These results include the latest giving by Federal employees through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the largest workplace giving program in the world. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently released the overall campaign results for the 2010 CFC campaign. Overall, the CFC was down only slightly, to $281 million overall. However, pledges to the America's Charities' federations were up 17.1 percent overall.

America's Charities Health First federation increased dramatically, due in part to favorable placement within the catalog (spots are determined by random drawing each year). The Washington-area Community First federation increased 41 percent, partly due to several prominent charities joining the federation. These new member organizations included WAMU 88.5FM, Children's Inn at NIH, Montgomery Hospice and others.

Private sector giving also increased, with a jump of 12 percent among employers that use America's Charities for their employee campaigns, including ExxonMobil, Lockheed Martin, Legal and General America (formerly Banner Life), Credit Union National Association, Hogan Lovells, AARP, National Geographic and others. The only area of decline was public sector campaigns at the state and local level, a decrease that was expected given the financial pressures on public employees. America's Charities projects a 10-12 percent decline when the 2010 results are known.

America's Charities is committed to transparency and trust, and honors all employee designations so that charities get every donation pledged to them by employees through workplace payroll giving. America's Charities also uses flexible technology solutions to ensure charities get their donations promptly. Member organizations include more than 140 national and local charities serving people and communities across the United States and around the world, including Feed the Children, Humane Society of the United States, Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Feeding America, NAACP Special Contribution Fund, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Teach for America, Reading is Fundamental, Junior Achievement, Father Flanagan's Boys' Home, Goodwill Industries International, Hospice America, Meals On Wheels Association of America, Share Our Strength, National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, Southern Poverty Law Center, Wounded Warrior Project and many more.

These members participate in almost 500 employee giving campaigns, reaching some 10 million employees annually through private sector employers, plus more than 200 campaigns within the U.S. government's Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) and 180 campaigns through state and local governments. Headquartered in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., with offices in the New York City metropolitan area, Orlando, FL, Austin, TX and Los Angeles, America's Charities has grown in members, donations, and stature by advocating for broader choice in giving, and serves as a change agent in addressing how companies run donor-driven workplace giving campaigns.

Note: These results include projections from some campaigns that have not yet reported final contributions.

America's Charities
Tony De Cristofaro, 703-222-3861
adecristofaro@charities.org
or
Nautilus Communications
Katherine Hutt, 703-938-4540
KHutt@NautilusCommunications.com