As the Bush Administration winds down, it is a given that the media will take their last swings. So, before any of the lefty columnists has the opportunity to claim that charitable donations are suffering as a result of the politically correct, non-accountable lending practices failure, I thought I'd link to this:
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University reports contributions to American charities have increased in 39 of the past 40 years in today's dollars. The drop that one year -- 1987 -- is blamed on a change in the tax laws rather than the stock market crash.
Research shows that giving drops less than one percent for every 100 point drop in the Standard -- Poor's 500 stock index. The stock market overall has a relatively small impact on individual charitable giving nationally.
There...I'm sure that will stop them.
|