The N.C. Secretary of State’s office had a report out yesterday that found North Carolina residents are continuing a downward trend in their charitable giving.
The office, led by Elaine Marshall, a Democrat, monitors charities in the state and puts out a report each year about the how much of a charity’s incoming revenue goes to services and program and how much covers overhead costs.
In 2013-14, North Carolina charities received $21.4 million, a drop of 33 percent from the $32.2 million in donations that came in the year before. This year was also the lowest amount that’s been donated in the past four years.
It also comes as the effects of the recession continue to linger in North Carolina, and more families and residents are turning to charities for help.
Nearly one in every five families in the state aren’t making enough to cover their basic living expenses as the state’s manufacturing base has been replaced by low-paying jobs in the service and tourism industries, according to a report published in June 2014 by the N.C. Justice Center’s Budget and Tax Center.
Employment levels have been on a slow climb out of the recession, and last month North Carolina finally saw its employment numbers match the number of jobs there were in the state before the recession began in 2008.
“Clearly, we are seeing that North Carolina households are still under a great deal of economic pressure,” Marshall said, in a written statement. “I thank everyone who is continuing to finds ways to support the non-profits out there that are trying to accomplish good works.”
The figures don’t cover all of charitable giving in the state – only those charities that use professional fundraising services, pay officers of the charity and raise more than $25,000. Educational institutions, churches and other religious groups and groups like volunteer fire departments also don’t have to report their information to Marshall’s office.
You can read the report here, and search to see what individual charities collected, and what went to overhead costs.
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