Donations To Charities Up 5% In ‘95

Americans gave $23.5 billion to the nation’s 400 biggest charities last year, giving most generously to the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and Catholic Charities USA.

Giving was up 5 percent from a year earlier, The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual survey of the 400 non-profit organizations receiving the most private money showed. The 1994 increase was 6.3 percent.

Although donations to the Salvation Army dropped by 11.3 percent, that organization topped the list for the fourth consecutive year with collections of $644.3 million.

The American Red Cross, number two for three years, raised $456.6 million, which represented a 7.9 percent drop from 1994. A 25-percent increase in giving to Catholic Charities USA boosted that organization from No. 7 to No. 3 on the list, as it raised $419.4 million last year.

Rounding out the top 10 charities, in order, were the American Cancer Society; Second Harvest, a national network of food banks; the United Jewish Appeal; Harvard University; Boys and Girls Clubs of America; the YWCA of the USA; and the American Heart Association.