It?s time to give.
With November and December traditionally the most productive donation months for charitable groups, Baltimore nonprofits are hoping to do well this year.
John Pare, communications director for the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind, said reasons for giving are twofold ? the heartfelt holiday spirit and good old end-of-the-year tax breaks.
Pare said the amount of giving at the end of the year often determines plans for the coming year.
Diane Bell-McKoy, the incoming president of Associated Black Charities, said charities work best with donors who have an ongoing relationship with the charity throughout the year.
“You have to make sure that [donors] know what the charity is doing and how it is making a difference,” Bell-McKoy said. “You have to give them information all year long and not just on the holidays.”
Baltimore recently lost its status as the most giving area in the nation.
“After two years of reporting the highest level of contributions, Baltimore dropped to 16th in this year?s study,” stated the fourth annual Metro Market Study by Charity Navigator. The study was completed in June, based on figures from 2005.
Sandra Miniutti, vice president for development a Charity Navigator, said donations dropped to nonprofits in 2005 because many donations flowed instead to helping victims of Hurricane Katrina. But she added that she expects giving to bump back up this year.
