Wealthy making smaller gifts

Wealthy Americans are making smaller gifts to charity, with more than half of them making their largest gift to fund nonprofit operations, a new study says.

They also are volunteering more, and those who volunteer more are giving more, says the 2010 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy.

Overall average gift amounts from wealthy Americans fell 35 percent from 2007, after adjusting for inflation, although several sectors saw average gift amounts grow 4 percent to 21 percent.