Big Nonprofits Predict 9% Drop in Donations

The nation’s largest nonprofits, including prominent universities, hospitals, and foundations, are expecting a 9 percent decrease in donations in 2009, according to a survey by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

It’s the steepest drop the publication has reported in the 17 years it has surveyed the 400 largest charities in the country.

While many of these groups, from the United Way and the Salvation Army to Harvard University, saw fund-raising increases in 2008, their donors had not yet felt the full force of the economic downturn and the stock market’s dive, according to the survey. Many are expecting far leaner times through 2010.

"These are the most successful charities. If they are going to see a decline of 9 percent, the smaller, scrappier charities that don’t have all that going for them are going to be having a much harder time," said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

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