Californians gave more to nonprofits and charities last year than they did in 2010, according to a recent report by the charitable research company Atlas of Giving.

In California, charitable giving grew by 7.1 percent, the report found. All states experienced growth, with the nation posting an overall 7.5 percent rise from the prior year, the study said. A total of $346 billion was given nationally in 2011.

In the local charitable community, however, the report is being taken with guarded optimism.

"I would be very surprised if giving was up by that much," said Ruth Blank, executive director of the Sacramento Community Region Foundation, or SCRF. The agency is the largest local overseer of charitable funds established by individuals, families, businesses and organizations.

Blank is taking a wait-and-see approach with the results of the report's findings given that Atlas of Giving, an upstart in the charitable giving research field, is using a new analytics and algorithmic approach to crunching data and forecasting.

Blank believes any significant rise in giving may be the result of donors seeking to help sustain programs that have lost government funding. "There are a lot of programs that are not supported in public schools anymore, so private dollars are going there," Blank said.

Morever, the national increases identified in the report may not be readily reflected in the Sacramento metropolitan area as the region lags behind the nation in giving, Blank said.

A recent study by SCRF found that the average annual contribution per donor household in Sacramento was $1,990 compared to the national average of $2,355, a rate that would translate into an extra $250 million for charitable organizations locally.

In the Atlas report, one of the most significant gains was made in the education sector – an almost 10 percent increase. Large educational institutions, like universities, typically are the recipients of large gifts – and 2011 was no exception.

Last year, the University of Southern California received a $200 million gift and Stanford University a gift of $150 million, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Closer to home, UC Davis saw a $10 million gift from Clos Pegase winery owner Jan Shrem and friend Maria Manetti Farrow toward construction of a new art museum on the Davis campus.

Such large gifts may have a skewing effect on averages for yearly giving, said Stacy Palmer, editor with the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

"Education has always been successful at getting money, whether in good or tough times," said Palmer.

She said that some philanthropy was tied to economic conditions and that last year's stock market gains may have been a factor.

"Some fundraisers are saying that people that have held back for a long time, and had been planning to give really big gifts before the recession, are feeling ready to go ahead and give money," she said.

Like Blank, Palmer feels the overall national gain of 7.5 percent stated in the Atlas of Giving report may paint too rosy a picture.

"What we have found is a mixed picture. While some groups are doing a lot better, others are doing a lot worse or staying flat," she said. "Groups that get money from the middle class are the ones that are in trouble."

The sector that showed the flattest activity in the Atlas of Giving report was religious organizations, said Rob Mitchell, CEO of Atlas of Giving. In the report, the proportion of giving represented by religious groups declined in 2011 from 37 percent to 36 percent.

"Lots of churches rely on a large number of small gifts," said Mitchell. "And those that give to them are the most impacted by high unemployment."

Despite the flat numbers, the religious sector remains the largest target of charitable giving – drawing in $128 billion in 2011.

For Palmer, the most telling factor that change is under way can be found at Fidelity Charitable, the third biggest nonprofit in the country, whose collections are only surpassed by the United Way Worldwide and the Salvation Army. Last year the organization raised $2.9 billion, more than it had collected before the recession, Palmer said.

Many other groups, however, are happy with lesser expectations.

"A lot of fundraisers have taken to saying that flat is the new up, because it is just so hard to keep even," Palmer said.

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