A new report from the Secretary of State’s office shows charitable giving in North Carolina is drastically down.
Latest numbers show giving at nearly $21.5 million dollars. That’s down by more than $10 million dollars from the year before.
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall says she’s not surprised the economy continues to have an effect on donations to charities and non-profits. But she is disappointed solicitors are hauling in a bigger chunk of the money.
“But people are dazzled by the fact that somebody will do this for them, especially if they’ve never done this, engaging a professional fundraiser before," said Marshall.
The annual report is a snap-shot of charitable giving and only includes groups that use paid solicitors registered with the state.
Marshall released the Charitable Solicitation Licensing Division Annual Report while visiting the Raleigh Rescue Mission.
Heather Black is Director of the Charitable Solicitation Licensing division. She says the report can be helpful to groups.
“This report gives charities a lot of information that they themselves can use to make really smart decisions for what they’re going to do next year. Who are they going to hire, who are they going to partner with to raise money. Are they going to look and say wow, we made a great decision last year or maybe we need to make a better decision next year,” said Black.
Today, there are almost 6,000 charities registered in North Carolina approved to solicit.