Salvation Army moves back to top as fund-raiser

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Salvation Army has returned to the top of the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of the nation’s 400 most successful fund-raising organizations, the newspaper reported.

The Christian charity dropped to the second position in the newspaper’s annual “Philanthropy 400” in 2003 when it previously had always held the No. 1 slot.

Contributions to the nation’s top fund-raising groups increased by 2.3 percent in 2003. That increase was viewed as a sign of recovery from 2002, when organizations on the annual list saw a drop in contributions of 1.2 percent.