Despite tough times, donors keep giving, Fidelity finds

Some good news for the charitable-giving world: Most donors — 55% — planned to donate the same amount to charities in 2009 as they did last year, according to a recent survey conducted by the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, a charitable donor-advised-fund program established by Fidelity Investments of Boston. On the downside, 33% of those surveyed said they planned to grant less. And only 12% said they planned to give more. Nearly half, or 48%, of donors said they planned to make the same contributions to Fidelity’s Charitable Gift Fund as they did last year. Another 40% said they planned to contribute less, and 12% said they would increase their contribution, the survey found.