Thanksgiving Week Shows Healthy Giving Signs

Americans gave a lot more to charity in the past week than they did at this time a year ago, producing a 61 percent surge in online donations. The data come from a Chronicle of Philanthropy analysis of gifts processed by Network for Good, which handles online donations for charities. The Chronicle looked at gifts that the group processed for more than 8,700 nonprofits in both 2011 and 2012 and found that not only did the amount of donations increase, but so did the number of donations.