They don't seem to want to give up. In today's chase for charitable dollars, individuals and businesses are overwhelmed. The mail is filled each day with donation requests and invitations to fundraisers. People solicit door to door. At the office, United Way comes calling.
Radio ads plead for donated cars.
Then, at day's end, the string of dinnertime phone calls begin. Today, donors and volunteers are being challenged like never before to use their heads along with their hearts in deciding where to give their time and dollars. The number of charities certified as tax exempt by the Internal Revenue Service has doubled since 1980. More than 25,000 new nonprofits are created each year in the United States. Frank Bragg, vice president of Blue Diamond Growers, watches children frolic on donated play equipment at Washington School, which is just down the street from its midtown factory.