Recent reports of financial trouble for charities not related to the Sept. 11 attacks may be exaggerated or premature. According to some Wisconsin nonprofit organizations, a lagging economy before the attacks has caused most of their current fiscal woes. They said it is too soon to tell how the attacks have affected charities.
'The most impact right now is with groups within New York,' said Shannon McNally, director of charity and advertising review for the Better Business Bureau Serving Wisconsin. 'Locally, we really haven't heard much, [but we're] not saying it's not happening.'
Trends in Wisconsin are contrary to mid-October articles in The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reporting small nonprofit organizations throughout the country to be suffering due to donors redirecting funds to crisis-relief efforts in New York.
'All the United Ways and all our agencies are nervous,' said Tony de Christofaro, a United Way spokesperson for the National Capital Region, in an Oct. 14 New York Times article.
Meg Van Gompel, director of marketing for the United Way of Dane County, expressed cautious, but more optimistic, views. For the period of Sept. 1 to Nov. 15, United Way of Dane County is slightly behind, but it is too early to tell how and if the attacks affected the organization, she said.
Fluctuations in the economy before and after the attacks have negatively affected some charities, Van Gompel said. However, she said research by the United Way of America has shown that during times of national and regional crises, donations for that year and the following year tend to increase.
The United Way is asking donors to keep their national relief gifts separate from local contributions. Van Gompel said she does not expect local charities to suffer financially, but instead that they may see increased interest and support after the attacks.
'When people are inclined to help ... they realize that there's a lot of help needed locally,' she said.
Charitable-giving expert Michelle Nelson, a UW-Madison professor of journalism and mass communication, said some Americans are feeling more empathetic toward people following the attacks and may increase donations in their communities.
'We may see changing values'less self-focused and more other-focused'over the long-term and a greater spirit of giving,' she said.
However, Nelson said that while slowing economic conditions and the attacks may influence a segment of donors, the behavior of those who give to charities regularly will not significantly change.
'[One-third of] donors give money or time on an annual basis'almost automatically'and the events of late will not likely alter their behaviors,' she said.
Building and maintaining donor relationships is essential to philanthropic institutions, University of Wisconsin Foundation President Sandy Wilcox said.
'It's not a quick hit, hello-goodbye-type business,' he said. 'Over time, we're going to have situations that are negative and situations that are positive, and you're just going to have to go with it.'
Wilcox said he felt intuitively that the charity is facing a slowdown, although the data would not reflect that claim. At the end of September, the UW Foundation was 25 percent ahead in its receipts as compared to last year.
'I don't think the Sept. 11 situation affected us nearly as much as just the economic conditions,' Wilcox said. 'We're in the large-gift business, and most of those gifts are made with appreciated securities. ... Many people feel that their securities portfolios ... are significantly less than two years ago, a year and a half ago.'
The weakening bull market has affected other Big Ten university foundations more than redirected donations after the Sept. 11 attacks, Wilcox said. Some private colleges have echoed similar sentiments.
'The slowing of the economy is a greater factor in the long run than the disaster relief efforts,' said Christine Reimers, associate director of annual support at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Universities may be less affected by a redirection of donations because of annual alumni support, Reimers said. She said Marquette University will not know until the end of the calendar year at the earliest how the attacks influenced giving.
The UW Foundation may never come to any conclusion as to how, if at all, the attacks altered giving patterns for UW-Madison, Wilcox said.
'We will never know, only anecdotally [if the attacks affected the UW Foundation],' he said. 'A lot of the anecdotes won't be accurate because people who don't want to give can always think of a reason not to.'
Some charities have changed their pitches in order to align themselves with the attacks or patriotic appeals. The Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 8 that a Manhattan nonprofit theater troupe changed its direct mail campaign to emphasize the call to 'get our city back up and working.' In the same article, the Journal reported that the Sierra Club postponed sending fliers criticizing President Bush after the attacks.
Wilcox said the UW Foundation's only adjustment made following the attacks was the suspension of its telefund activity for the rest of that week.
Playing on feelings of patriotism, some charities have misrepresented themselves to eager donors. The New York Better Business Bureau has been extremely busy with calls about questionable charities, McNally said.
'If groups haven't been in business for a year, it may be hard to be certain that donations are going where they say they are,' she said.
At this point, it is difficult to say how greatly charities outside of relief funds for the Sept. 11 attacks will be affected in the long term. A slowing economy will play a major role in the future of some charities. However, locally, nonprofit organizations are optimistic.
'This is kind of a different community,' Wilcox said. 'I have a sense that [charities] are going to be doing all right.'
