Americans gave $175 billion to charities last year, but most of that money was spent on philanthropy administration rather than on the causes those organizations are supporting, according to a report in the Christian Science Monitor.

Chuck Collins and Patricia Maher published an opinion piece in the newspaper's Monday edition claiming only 13 percent of that $175 billion was spent directly on human-service and public benefit programs and only 2 to 4 percent of money given away was spent on efforts to enact social change. Most of the money went to the arts, churches, private colleges and universities and hospitals.

"Too often, charity goes to the immediate relief of symptoms of social and economic problems," the report said. "This is why charitable efforts often fail to achieve lasting solutions."

The authors argued that all of the attention given to individual Internet success stories has swayed the way the public views solutions to social problems. Many people are beginning to think troubles can be solved with individual solutions when in fact groups of people brainstorming can come up with more plans, strategies and actions that turn into "powerful movements."

"This kind of work requires money, but it is exactly these movements that are largely left out of the charitable pie," the report said.

It is important for donors to give to causes that do not affect their life or the lives of their friends and loved ones as much as charities with efforts hitting close to home.

Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/04/03/fp9s2-csm.shtml