Drop in arts’ audience share...

December 28, 2009

Drop in arts' audience share outpaced by movies, sports
A new study by the National Endowment for the Arts finds that while the arts' share of the potential audience of all Americans 18 and older fell 4.4 percent overall since 1982, the movies' share of adults fell more than twice as fast, and sporting events' share has fallen four times faster, the Chicago Tribune reported Dec. 23 (see arts participation story).

Wall Street givers have impact
While people and companies on Wall Street that donate to charity give only a token of their wealth and often give for reasons that are less than charitable, like seeking influence, building name recognition, taking a tax write-off or simply gaining adulation, and while they may be partly to blame for the nation's financial ills, their dollars still have done good works, The Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 24 (see Wall Street philanthropy story).

Salvation Army collections down in Miami
The Salvation Army's Miami area commander expects collections to be down about 25 percent from a year ago, the Miami Herald reported Dec. 23 (see Salvation Army story). Demand for services, he says, is the highest he has seen in his 41 years with the organization.

High-tech giving options grow
The number of online and other high-tech options for giving increased just before the year-end holidays, The Washington Post reported Dec. 24 (see online giving story). A new iPhone application, for example, lets shoppers give to charities just by walking into stories.

Revenue, expenses, jobs grow at Minnesota nonprofits
Revenue grew 2.2 percent in 2008 for Minnesota's 100 largest nonprofits while expenses jumped 7.9 percent, and the state's more than 3,800 nonprofit employers employed 290,000 workers in 2008, up 3.5 percent over 2008, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Dec. 23 (see Minnesota nonprofits story).

Accused lawyer's firm gave $6 million charity
A former South Florida law firm run by a lawyer alleged to have operated a big Ponzi scheme gave over $6 million in the past year to charities and nonprofits, ABC News reported Dec. 24 (see fraud charity story).

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