Pi-Consulting

Charitable donations in the USA are on the rise, provided what you’re looking out for is support for truly worthy causes like culture and the arts. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University reports that last year Americans gave over $12 billion to organizations for the arts, culture and humanities, an increase of 10%. However, giving to international causes fell by 9% to $11 billion, and donations to human services overall were also off by 9%. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof noted recently that pictures of sad puppies with big eyes and floppy ears are far more effective in stimulating public generosity than reports of human suffering, particularly when thousands or millions of people are involved rather than one individual story. Returning to New York after a visit to Darfur, he was “flummoxed” by the public obsession with saving a red-tailed hawk evicted from its 5th Avenue nest, “which aroused considerably more public indignation than two million homeless Sudanese”. Sources: Wall Street Journal, WARC, New York Times, Pi.

Safe and Healthy Thanksgiving wishes from the Staff at Pi-Consulting and Pi Market Research.