Trends in Giving - Essay Example

A second trend seen over the past decade is the increasing levels of contributions gathered by NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations). Funds have been pouring into these organizations because they have been billed as being able to address global issues such as famine or AIDS better than individual governments. A trend within this segment of giving is the increase of funds flowing from mega private funds such as the Soros Fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ted Turner. Greater transparency in NGO’s has attracted these mega private donors because they can be more assured that their funds are going to the delineated cause.

The problem of needing to steer the NGO towards the agenda of the mega private donor is a real risk, but one many NGO’s must take due to declining volunteerism and donations from other private sources (Greensmith, 2001) Another interesting gauge of trends in giving that is extremely current is the development of the PGI (Philanthropic Giving Index) at the University of Indiana. The PGI works on a similar concept as the Consumer Confidence Index. It attempts to measure the likelihood that potential donors will give to charity in the coming year.

It gauges the public’s reaction to various fundraising techniques currently employed and surveys them as to how likely they would be to give if approached using these techniques. Currently, the PGI is at an all-time low of 64.8. This is down 27% from the PGI that was recorded in December of 2007 (Raiton, 2009)