Impact of a Spike in Year-End Gifts Remains Unclear

A late surge of contributions in the last weeks of 2011 has made many charities hopeful of continued fundraising growth this year. But the picture is mixed.

A Chronicle of Philanthropy survey of 153 charities found that 55 percent raised more last year than in 2010, while one-third took in less and 12 percent stayed even. What worries many organizations is that nearly 40 percent of nonprofits say contributions have not bounced back to the amount they raised before the recession started in 2007.