Thursday, January 31, 2008

Charitable giving: international league tables and support for the arts in the UK

It was depressing to read USA Today report how badly European countries – including the UK – compare with record levels of charitable giving in the USA.

Last year Americans gave nearly $300 billion to charitable causes - a record exceeding the 2005 total that had been boosted by a surge in aid following Katrina and the Asian tsunami.

A Charities Aid Foundation study in 2006 found that philanthropic giving as a percentage of gross domestic product, put the US first at 1.7% with the UK second on 0.73%. (That compared well with France’s 0.14%!).

There was good news yesterday from Arts & Business who have found that the private sector is putting more money into the arts than ever before. The total amount of private support for the arts has grown by 11% to £599 million.

I do wonder how the interest in corporate social responsibility will weather increasingly uncertain and stringent economic times. However Arts & Business are highlighting the tax incentives to give.

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