Donating part of one’s income to public causes, known as charitable giving, used to be a common practice. But, in the United Sta

Donating part of one’s income to public causes, known as charitable giving, used to be a common practice. But, in the United States charitable giving has declined substantially in recent years, and, for several reasons, it is unlikely to increase in the future. One reason that charitable giving has fallen is simply that there is less need for charitable giving, because the United States government now provides most of the important public services. The government assumes much of the responsibility for feeding the poor, providing health care, and taking care of the victims of natural disasters—functions that charities used to perform. These government institutions of social welfare are permanent, and so the diminished need for private charitable giving will also be.
    Another reason people are, and will be, giving less to charities is that in the past few years there have been highly publicized disclosures that the managers of some prominent national charities were receiving huge salaries and other benefits as large or larger than salaries of heads of major for profit corporations. These salaries and expenses for travel, fancy offices, and advertising significantly reduce the percentage of donated money that went to charitable purposes. Naturally people have been turned off by these excesses and inefficiencies.
    Finally, beyond the shortcomings of legitimate charities, there has been an increasing number of fraudulent solicitations by organizations or individuals who merely pose as charities. As a result, people are now becoming skeptical even about what are in fact legitimate appeals for support. So potential donors are starting to give less and give less frequently. And since the incidence of charity fraud seems to be increasing, we can expect further declines in charitable giving as people become more concerned that they are being taken advantage of.