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CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL

America Recovers: September 11 Donations Undermine Other Needy Charities

Aired October 16, 2001 - 06:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: There is ground zero in New York, and then there is ground zero in the number of dollars that many U.S. charities are not getting after the September 11 attacks.

CNN's Brooks Jackson shows us the domino effect in reverse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKS JACKSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans are opening their hearts and checkbooks as never before, and yet, donations to this Atlanta food bank are down. While unemployment is rising, food donations have fallen by 300,000 pounds from last year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I think a lot has been diverted to the disaster areas deservedly.

JACKSON: And advocates for infants and small children also are worried.

MATTHEW MELMED, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR "ZERO TO THREE": The needs of babies and toddlers, and young children in general, are slowly being edged off the radar screen. We've been told by some national foundations that they may be cutting their giving by up to 60 percent by next fiscal year, and particularly for areas that affect young children.

JACKSON: Hundreds of millions have been raised for victims of September 11, and the Red Cross is still on the air urging Americans to give even more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We still need your help.

JACKSON (on camera): But meanwhile, the other charities are worried -- worried that donors who give to victims will cut back giving elsewhere, worried that sagging stock prices will dry up the endowments that allow foundations to give, worried that the 9-11 attacks hit the economy so hard that people and corporations will have less to give.

(voice-over): For example, American Airlines: its business devastated, announced it won't make any cash donations to charity next year. KRISTINA CARLSON, FUNDRAISINGINFO.COM: And we'll see more dollars go to the relief effort that perhaps might have gone to other organizations, and we're most concerned about organizations that rely heavily on corporate donations.

JACKSON: At times like these, history teaches that Americans do dig deep. The year after Pearl Harbor, charitable giving surged 46 percent, according to one study, and the year after the Oklahoma City bombing, total giving was up nearly 12 percent.

But symphonies, museums, education groups and environmental groups all worry their support may decline.

PETER SHIRAS, INDEPENDENT SECTOR: So for a lot of organizations, particularly those who aren't directly related to the relief effort, there is a tremendous amount of concern about what the impact will be on them.

JACKSON (on camera): Adding to the concern: The attacks came just as nonprofits were gearing up their year-end fund drives -- their peak season. So until those donations and pledges are counted, the other charities will be holding their breath.

Brooks Jackson, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So it's a drop in the economy. If you're not a 9-11 charity, what do you do, especially if people are being laid off or suffering some other kind of setback?

Well, for that, we turn to Adam Meyerson. He's president of the Philanthropy Roundtable, a national association encompassing more than 650 donors -- good to see you, sir.

ADAM MEYERSON, PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: Good morning, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, first of all, do you agree with Brooks Jackson's report.

MEYERSON: No, I have heard the argument that the September 11 relief effort is hurting other charities, and I frankly disagree with that. A billion dollars have been raised for the victims of those terrible, terrorist attacks. That's an astonishing outpouring of generosity, but it's only a drop in the bucket compared to overall charitable giving in this country.

Americans are the most generous people on Earth. We give $200 billion per year. That means that the money that's been raised for charitable relief for the victims is only half of one percent of all of the money that we give to charity per year.

The big problem, and Brooks mentioned this, of course, the big problem is the economic downturn -- the fact that the stock market is down, the fact that many foundations have seen their value of their assets go down 15 or 20 percent. Americans give on average about 2 percent of their income to charity. So the best way to help those struggling nonprofits right now is to crank up the economy, because when we have economic growth, charities benefit -- charities of all kinds.

PHILLIPS: Now, Adam, I was reading in a number of articles that it's the small charities throughout the nation that are really suffering. For example, small nonprofit agencies that help the needy, like food banks, battered women's shelters.

Do you agree with that?

MEYERSON: Well, that's right. I think many small charities, some large charities, have been hurt as well. But again, Americans are the most generous people on Earth. Now might be a good time to think not only of victim relief, but of giving some extra help to those charities that are most important in your own community.

Another thing that we think that people should think about is not just relief for the victims of terrorism, but how do you use your charitable dollars to stop the terrorism from occurring in the first place? For example: How do you use your charitable dollars to fund important research on national defense, or to help the public health authorities protect us against biological and chemical warfare, or to support freedom-loving organizations in the Islamic world?

There are a lot of things that donors can do to contribute to the war on terrorism beyond victim relief, though, of course, we believe that victim relief is wonderful and represents America at its best. The spirit of neighbor helping neighbor, of countrymen helping countrymen, it's one of the -- it shows that this is a truly great country, one of the greatest -- the most generous country on the face of the Earth.

PHILLIPS: Well, Adam, you talk about that spirit and that generosity, and we can't help but forget the video and the pictures that came about after those attacks -- or during those attacks on September 11.

Do you think that's what helped sort of stimulate this giving nature? I know Brooks Jackson mentioned in his report that usually after every disaster, people are so generous. Do you think people gave even more this time around, considering the type of disaster we all went through?

MEYERSON: That's right. And in fact, this is another reason I think we should -- other charities should not be so worried over the long term about the affect of the September 11 relief effort. Because this was a spontaneous effort -- a spontaneous outpouring of help for people, and it's also a sign that the American people are unbowed. They are united in the face of this terrorism.

So it wasn't just our natural generosity. It was also a way of telling Osama bin Laden: You're not going to stop us.

PHILLIPS: You talked a little bit about, too, about the way people can get involved with preventing future attacks and donating to other charities.

Give us some examples of education groups or organizations that work against terrorism.

MEYERSON: Well, I think they are there. We need a lot of experts on -- experts to fight about national security, experts on Afghanistan, Pakistan, experts on Islam. We need to support freedom- loving groups in the Islamic world. That's a very important thing.

I think that the donor should carefully research the organizations, think tanks, universities, educational institutions. Ones that they have a lot of trust in, they should help and see what are they doing to support national security studies, studies of terrorism, intelligence, Central Asian studies, the fight against -- the protection of our homeland.

PHILLIPS: Adam Meyerson -- thank you so much, sir.

MEYERSON: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Empowering words.

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