Donations in 2010’s First Quarter Show Healthy Signs for Charities

Donations to the nation’s biggest charities are growing rapidly in the first quarter of 2010, compared with the same time in 2009, a sign that many nonprofit groups are making a strong recovery from the fund-raising troubles they suffered last year, according to a new Chronicle survey.

Giving grew by a median of 11 percent in the first three months of 2010, compared with 2009, meaning that donations to half of the charities grew faster while the other half were faring less well.