By Steve Jacobson, AFP-NYC President
CEO, JCA, Inc.
A new study released just this past week by the Urban Institute revealed that charitable giving in 2020 declined significantly for small nonprofits while larger organizations tended to fare better. Until now, we’ve seen a number of studies, surveys and anecdotal references that have pointed to the level of giving varying widely based on nonprofit sectors. In 2020, as in other years, giving was impacted by current events. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others spurred giving to social justice organizations. The pandemic prompted increased levels of giving to hospitals and health care foundations. But, on the flip side, according to Giving USA, 2020 giving was down by 8.6% to arts and culture institutions. Overall, 2020 could be summed up as the “year of unequal giving.”