As the end of the year draws near we approach what is often called “the season of giving.” But giving, particularly to charitable causes, during a recession is hard for everyone.

The Idaho Department of Labor reported this week that state unemployment reached 9 percent for the first time since June 1983. Both those working and those unemployed know it’s hard to give in times of financial distress.

The financial woes have largely been blamed on people living beyond their means by taking on too much debt. Many organizations that receive the gifts of this season, charities and other nonprofits, also have taken on too much debt.

Using data from the Internal Revenue Service, the New York Times reported in September that bond issuance from nonprofits nearly tripled over the past decade. As the economy falters and gifts continue declining, these organizations are having as much trouble making payments as homeowners today.

Charities and other nonprofit organizations also lost a key source for funding their operations – the stock market. According to a report in the Chronicle of Philanthropy earlier this year the financial market problems of 2007 and 2008 led to a median decline of…

Read Dr. Crabb’s full article at http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/979991.html

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