Everyday Givers in the Spotlight

We've known for a long time that the big-ticket philanthropic donors are not the most generous people out there. The lower your income, in fact, the more comparatively generous you are. Because of the impressive size of their gifts, however, the Gateses and the Bonos of the world get the lion's share of attention for their philanthropy.

With the change in our economic fortunes, however, all that's starting to change. Watching the major gifts they've long depended on dry up, nonprofits are courting the smaller-time donors like never before. "After years in the shadows, the everyday donor is emerging as philanthropy’s newest hero, the driver of a more down-to-earth approach to charity," writes the New York Times.

The everyday donor, of course, has been a giving hero for a long time. The Times reports that in 2004, US individuals sprang to action after the tsunami that ravaged parts of southeast Asia to donate almost half of the $6.2 billion raised for relief efforts. The average gift was $135.

Organizations are now realizing how valuable this generosity in the general public is in a down economy. “This is one of those all-hands-on-deck moments where we absolutely need to engage everyone, whether they are able to give 50 cents or $50 million,” David Saltzman, executive director of the Robin Hood Foundation, told the Times.

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