Public confidence in charities has eroded

Washington — Confidence in charitable organizations has decreased in the last year, with the number of Americans expressing no confidence in charities doubling, the Brookings Institution reports.

In July 2001, 25 percent of Americans said they had “a lot” of confidence in charitable organizations. That percentage dropped to 19 percent in August of this year. The percentage who voiced no confidence jumped from 8 percent to 16 percent.

“The primary culprit for this decline is the coverage of the controversy surrounding the disbursement of charity funds for Sept. 11 survivors,” said Paul C. Light, director of the Center for Public Service, a policy center of the Washington-based institution focused on public policy research.

The surveys showed that, in general, charitable organizations such as the Red Cross and federated appeals, such as the United Way or the March of Dimes, saw decreased or unchanged levels of confidence by Americans. Brookings based its findings on five surveys between July 2001 and August 2002, the first being commissioned by Independent Sector, a Washington-based coalition of nonprofits, and the rest by Brookings.