NewsBits: Giving Around the World

from ThirdSector (U.K.):

Brits most likely to give to charity, survey finds

A poll of more than 10,000 people in 16 countries carried out by social entrepreneur networking site UnLtdWorld.com revealed that 83 per cent of the 1,186 British-based respondents said they had made a donation to charity in the past year – the highest proportion.

In second place was Canada, where 77 per cent of respondents said they had made a donation. Sixty-two per cent of people from France said they had given to charity, 59 per cent in Switzerland and 44 per cent in the USA.

from The Age (Australia):

Charities hit hard by downturn

CHARITIES are struggling in the economic downturn, with 60 per cent reporting falling revenue over the past six months. But a survey also says many are finding opportunities to restructure, refocus and make changes delayed in the good times.

The survey of 263 non-profit organisations found two-thirds predict further loss of income over the next year. At the same time their costs are rising.

The report, Managing in a Downturn, from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Centre for Social Impact and the Fundraising Institute of Australia, is to be released today.

and lastly this from Bloomberg; the story that keeps on giving:

Madoff Trustee Battles Israeli Charity Over $4.7 Mln

A charity for homeless and runaway Israeli children that lost money in Bernard Madoff’s fraud told a U.S. judge that the trustee liquidating the con man’s business wrongfully rejected its $4.72 million claim in the case.

New York-based ELEM/Youth in Distress Israel Inc. said its claim in the investment-advisory firm’s bankruptcy should equal the group’s final account balance of $4.72 million, instead of the $26,365 allowed by the trustee, Irving Picard, according to an objection yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.