Donations to charitable causes in the United States reached an estimated $307 billion in 2008 --- an impressive figure, yet down 5.7% over the prior year.
In August of 2009, 86% of fundraisers at charitable organizations surveyed said that the economy was having a negative or very negative impact on their fundraising abilities.
One million additional tons of garbage are produced each week between Thanksgiving and Christmas – a 25% increase in total waste during the holiday period then any other time of year.
For just $1, food banks can provide nine pounds of food and grocery products to Americans facing hunger.
Charitable giving has declined by about 1.3 percent during each of the five most recent national recessions.
In 2007, 11.1% of U.S. households (13 million homes) were food insecure and faced the challenges of hunger.
A total of 19 billion cards, letters, and packages are delivered between Thanksgiving and Christmas each year. December 15th is the busiest mail day of the year; 960 million items of mail are processed on that day.
Thanksgiving weekend has historically seen more alcohol-related traffic fatalities than any other weekend.
You must keep a bank record or written communication from a charity including the charity's name, along with the date and amount of your contribution, in order to deduct a cash contribution.
Of the 5,500 charities evaluated by Charity Navigator, the vast majority spend at least 75% of their budgets on the programs and services that they exist to provide, 10% or less on fundraising fees and 15% or less on administrative costs.
Any parcel post packages sent to loved ones serving overseas need to be mailed by November 13th in order to arrive in time before Christmas.
Despite the recession, Charity Navigator users gave 16% more through our site in 2008 than 2007.
7.6 million American families lived in poverty during 2007.
Worldwide, 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation, and more than one billion people lack a clean and safe water supply.
Among organizations working to meet people's basic needs, including food, shelter and clothing, more than half report that they are underfunded or severely underfunded for 2009.
Approximately 40% of the world's population survives on less than $2 per day.
39% of the organizations evaluated by Charity Navigator have accumulated at least a year's worth of working capital to fall back on during economic downturns, down 10% from the year before.
Americans carry an average of $8,329 in credit card debt per household. American consumers owed a grand total of $1.9773 trillion dollars (not including mortgage debt) in October 2003.
Most U.S. SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as the food stamp program) participants are children (49%) or the elderly (9%). In 2008, 28.4 million people participated each month in the SNAP program.
