GIVING to churches and religious organisations in the United States has dropped for the second year running, despite an increase in overall charitable donations from individuals and corporations, a new report says.

Giving USA, which is published annually, has reported on philanthropy by Americans, and how donations are spent, since 1956. It estimates that total charitable donations were $298 billion in 2011. This was a rise of nearly four per cent, which suggests that households are beginning to open their wallets again after the recession.

Religious organisations remain the largest recipient of donations, the report says, receiving $96 billion of the total giving last year. This represents a decline of 4.7 per cent in giving, however, when adjusted to take account of inflation.

The chairman of the US Giving Institute, Thomas Mesaros, said: "Giving to religion, along with membership of certain mainline Protestant donations, is declining, while the average American population grows on average one per cent a year. It might be too soon to call it a trend, but I think they bear watching, and not just by church-affiliated organisations. Any charity that is heavily dependent on members for the majority of its annual budget needs to be cognisant of issues that could affect growth, commitment, and donations."

Individual Americans gave nearly $218 billion last year, the report finds. Giving to overseas aid, and charities that provide a service to people, has increased.

The rise in charitable giving has, however, been slower than after all other recessions since 1971.

www.givingusarereports.org