AHM&P In the News...
AHM&P Partners are noted experts in the non-profit field and are often called up by the national and local Georgia press when these publications are researching and writing on issues that impact the non-profit field. Here are recent examples of our expert Partners in the news.

Woodruff's $200M gift critical to Grady's survival
By MATT KEMPNER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/07/08

"It's all about creating Atlanta and Georgia into a world-class city and a world-class state," said Del Martin, the chairman of Atlanta-based fund raising consultant Alexander Haas Martin & Partners.

(click here to read the entire AJC article)

Grady Hospital ready for fundraising explosion
Nonprofit board includes some powerful fund-raisers who are ready to attract millions for hospital
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/21/08

Grady Memorial Hospital has long been a neglected stepchild of Atlanta's charity community, but it appears now on the verge of a fund-raising explosion.

With the pump primed by an expected $200 million private donation, Grady supporters hope to attract tens of millions more for the cash-strapped health center.

The hospital's nearly-final management restructuring and the prospect of better days ahead have boosted the charity community's faith in the institution, said local fund-raising consultants and health care officials.

The hospital's new nonprofit board includes some of the most powerful fund-raisers in the state, the kind of people who can raise huge sums with a phone call.

Hopes are high that a wave of giving will revive Atlanta's major trauma center and safety net hospital and allow the facility to replace outdated medical equipment, buy a modern computer system and even develop medical specialties to attract more paying patients.

"They are positioned to raise significant money," said David King, president of Alexander Haas Martin and Partners, a fund-raising consulting firm in Atlanta that has worked with Piedmont Hospital and the Southern Regional Medical Center. "We're talking tens of millions. We may be talking hundreds of millions.

(to continue reading the article, click here)

Woodruff is likely donor for Grady
Copyright 2008 bizjournals.com
March 21, 2008 8:48 AM ET

The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, which has helped shape the city's health-care services landscape, could now fittingly help bail out an Atlanta institution -- Grady Memorial Hospital.

As part of the 953-bed hospital's privatization, Grady is expected to receive $200 million in private aid. Hospital officials won't say where the money is coming from just yet, but the smart money suggests the Woodruff Foundation is high on the donor list.

The reason: With $2.7 billion in assets, the foundation, created by Robert W. Woodruff, former president of The Coca-Cola Co., has the financial muscle to afford such a hefty contribution. The charity has a track record of supporting health-care institutions -- it helped pay for the Emory Winship Cancer Institute and The Emory Clinic. In 2007, it gave away more than $95 million, with the largest share going to health-care causes.

In an e-mailed statement March 20, Foundation President P. Russell Hardin said the Woodruff Foundation "certainly expects to receive an appeal for charitable support" from Grady.

"We are in contact with the new board leadership [at Grady]," Hardin said, "but no formal grant request has been received and no formal commitment has been made."

The name of the donor, or donors, is expected to be made public within a few weeks. The money, which will help pay for capital improvements at the outdated hospital, is expected to trickle in over several years, starting with an initial $50 million installment.

The Woodruff Foundation is a "fabulous health-care funder," said Alicia Philipp, president of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Inc.

"The Woodruff Foundation has been a bellwether ... has been out there in the forefront in health care," Philipp said. "We have a quite broad and deep group of philanthropists that care deeply about health care."

In 1937 Robert Woodruff incorporated the Trebor Foundation. The name, "Robert" spelled backward, demonstrated Woodruff's preference for anonymous giving -- another clue perhaps linking Grady's $200 million donor to the charity. The foundation was renamed the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation following its founder's death.

Health care, along with education, is a major focus of the Woodruff Foundation, a reflection of its founder's passions.

When Woodruff was building Coca-Cola in the 1920s, '30s and '40s, Atlanta was not an easy place from which to build a global business, Hardin said.

"[Woodruff's] aspiration for Atlanta was that it be a big-league city," Hardin said. "He was a pragmatic businessman. He was proud of his hometown, but he also wanted it to be a place from which The Coca-Cola Co. could do business."

One of the key components to a first-class business environment is quality of life, Hardin said.

"You can't attract talent to live in a place where if you get sick you got to go someplace else," he said. "He wanted Atlanta to train the best and brightest physicians and have first-class medical care."

The Foundation's most notable beneficiary has been Emory University. In a testament to the Foundation's largesse, Emory's health sciences administration building wears the Woodruff name. In 1979 Woodruff and his brother, George, donated $105 million to Emory, at that time the largest single gift ever made to a U.S. institution of higher education. The grant was mostly in Coca-Cola stock, which has appreciated over the years.

In 2006, Emory University received $261.5 million from the Foundation. Included in that year's gifts was a $240 million grant to the Emory Clinic -- the largest single donation in the Foundation's history. In 1996, the Foundation set up a $295 million endowment whose proceeds specifically benefit the Woodruff Health Sciences Center.

The Foundation "has meant the world" to improving health care in Atlanta, said Fred Sanfilippo, executive vice president for Health Affairs at Emory University in an e-mail. "[It] has helped build Atlanta into a leading American city by funding innovative health programs, services, education, training and facilities that provide superb medical care to its residents."

Robert Woodruff wanted to make sure Georgia had the same kind of quality health care as the rest of the United States, said Del Martin, chairman at Alexander Haas Martin & Partners, an Atlanta-based philanthropy consulting firm.

"Robert Woodruff realized that for a person to be truly happy they have to be healthy," Martin said. "It doesn't matter how rich or poor you are, if you're not healthy, you really don't have much."

Grady's future is closely tied to Emory's, Martin noted, because Emory helps provide the hospital with its medical staff.

Helping Grady keeps its doors meshes with the Foundation's priorities and commitment to downtown Atlanta, Martin said.

"All of their past giving," she said, "has shown how much they really want to make sure that the disadvantaged have access [to health services]."

Gift of giving: Del Martin, of nonprofit fundraiser Alexander Haas Martin & Partners, was named chairperson of Giving USA.

Giving blooms in economic winter
Trends for philanthropic donations, endowments
Friday, March 7, 2008
By John Manasso , Staff Writer

The economy might be headed for troubled times, but that does not necessarily mean bad news for nonprofits and organizations that depend upon philanthropic giving.

Del Martin of nonprofit fundraiser Alexander Haas Martin & Partners was recently named chairperson of Giving USA, which has been studying giving trends for 50 years.

"The effect is that there's never been a decrease in recession years," she said. "There's been a rate increase. Giving still goes up."

Martin said the reason for that is wealthy individuals -- take Arthur Blank, for instance, whose family foundation gave out $19 million in gifts in 2007 -- will continue to give at a similar rate. Endowed foundations do not want the work of nonprofits -- whose service to the community is needed more in difficult economic times -- to be negatively affected by the vacillations of economic cycles.

(to continue reading the article, click here)

AHMP Managing Partner, David Shufflebarger, shares insights with The Daily Princetonian
'Aspires' tops $663 millions in donations
Friday, March 7, 2008
By Matt Westmoreland, Staff Writer

The progress of Princeton’s campaign is right on target with fundraising efforts at comparable schools, said David Shufflebarger, managing partner at Alexander Haas Martin & Partners, a consulting firm that specializes in capital campaigns. Princeton is one of 28 colleges and universities each currently seeking to raise more than $1 billion, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“Now is the slow and steady progress through the early part of the campaign,” Shufflebarger said. “You’re going to have up months and down months. The best way to look at a campaign is not one month, four months or eight months, but on a yearly basis."

(click here to read the entire article)

James Hackney Jr. at home with his collection of Southern pottery. The elevated large pot at right was a gift from colleagues on the occasion of his 10th anniversary with Alexander Haas Martin & Partners.

He Gets Givers
Phenomenal fund-raiser rarely asks for money,
but he pitches ideas that inspire philanthropy.
Sunday, February 17 , 2008 9:07 AM CST
By Kevin Duffy —Atlanta Journal Consitution

James Hackney knows how to separate the wealthy from their wealth.

The consulting firm of which he is a part-owner, Alexander Haas Martin & Partners, helps nonprofit organizations raise huge sums.

The 1996 Olympics, the High Museum, the Atlanta History Center and Zoo Atlanta have all benefited from the firm's services.

Hackney's particular expertise is raising money for museums, which typically means selling a vision to a few rich people who can make a big difference.

"Individuals give away 85 percent of the money that's given away in the United States," he says. "Corporations this past year gave away only 4.3 percent of the money given away.

"In 2006, approximately $295 billion was donated nationwide, Hackney adds. Fund-raising is very big business.

(click here to continue reading this article)

AHMP Team Member Participates in Career Day
AHM&P's Keisha Tennyson, Project Manager/Client Development, was invited to participate in Career Day at Atlanta Public School's Bethune Elementary. Keisha was honored to join other professionals from across metro Atlanta to speak with students about career paths while stressing the importance of obtaining an advanced education. Addressing a group of students that included third-thru-fifth graders, Keisha talked about her work with nonprofit organizations with her position at the Firm and also spoke of practicing what she preaches through the volunteer work she does outside of her 9-to-5 job. Giving back to the community — that's just one of the many things we admire about Keisha! We are proud she is a member our our RESULTS Team.

Museum Means New Jobs
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 9:07 AM CST
By Amy Sherrill — TIMES RECORD

An assessment released from a planning consultant working with the U.S. Marshals Service Museum board details more than a dozen new jobs needed to run the future museum.

John D. Gruber, president of Access Museum Service of Brentwood, Tenn., released recently a needs assessment report after visiting Fort Smith, the museum site and receiving input last month from the USMS Museum Board of Directors, city leaders and advocates.

Staff salaries and benefits for the opening year of the museum are estimated at a little more than a half-million dollars. Marketing, promotions, utilities, and insurance make up for the remaining costs of the total $790,000 estimated operational costs, according to the assessment report.

Planned revenue for the museum is estimated at $1.4 million the first year with admissions of 150,000 projected visitors bringing in the bulk of the funds at $750,000. Estimates of retail sales in the gift shop come in at $525,000, the report states.

“I want people to understand that this is not the plan for the museum,” said Sandi Sanders, volunteer project director of the USMS museum. “We needed initially to know what we were talking about in general terms. It’s our starting point and that’s what we needed.”

Preliminary capital budgets for the museum building, furniture, art, exterior and permanent exhibits and other items are gauged at $24.8 million — almost a half million more than the estimate of $24.4 million provided by the initial museum planning group.

“I want to be sure that individuals, when they get it, don’t read it and say, ‘Oh, well they’ve left out this,’” Sanders said. “There are so many additional ideas and we’ll put those, as we know about them, into the final report, but we’ll be adding all kinds of things and streamlining it as we get it designed.”

The square footage allotment recommendations for a total 52,045-square-foot building are separated into 11 different areas with the bulk — 38 percent — of the square footage for permanent exhibit gallery. Other areas include a gift shop, theater, research center, courtroom and administration, the report states.

Sanders said she is pleased with the “beginning” of an organized report of general thoughts and the next step will be a 4 p.m. Thursday meeting in the community room at the Fort Smith Public Library.

The fundraising counsel team, Aaron Berger and Jim Hackney, from Alexander Haas Martin & Partners of Atlanta, will make a one-hour presentation about the process in planning and implementing the national capital campaign, Sanders said.

A museum storyline planning session is scheduled for Friday in the Smith Pendergraft Campus Center at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. Marshal Historian David Turk and UAFS history assistant professor Tom Wing will be among the participants.

With Bold Museum, a Virginia City Aims for Visibility
By PAMELA J. PODGER Published:
December 29, 2007 – NEW YORK TIME

ROANOKE, Va. — Since the 1980s, this old railroad and manufacturing city has been trying to transform itself into a magnet for white-collar families, who expect amenities like the ballet and symphonies.The downtown area has been revitalized, and wine bars, boutiques and condominiums have replaced empty storefronts.

The latest addition is the new $66 million Art Museum of Western, one of the most expensive and controversial projects in the city’s history. The museum’s avant-garde architecture is a gamble intended to put Roanoke on the nation’s cultural map.

Nationwide, other mid-size cities, including Milwaukee and Biloxi, Miss., hope similarly bold museums will revitalize their downtowns, replicating the success of the in Bilbao, Spain. “Bilbao really opened people’s eye because it was visible on the worldwide stage,” said Jim Hackney [Managing Partner, Alexander Haas Martin & Partners, Inc.], an Atlanta fund-raiser for new museums. The Roanoke museum’s zinc, glass and steel spires rise like an abstract sculpture as workers prepare for an opening next November.

Designed by the Los Angeles architect Randall Stout, a protégé of, the museum’s architecture contrasts with the historic red-brick downtown with its farmers market, refurbished neon signs and faded billboards for powder-milk biscuits.

Detractors liken its architecture to the “wreck of the Flying Nun” or the crash of a flying saucer, a mishmash of jutting angles. They express fears of operating shortfalls if the museum fails to draw the projected 500 visitors a day. But many Roanoke leaders are betting that the museum will be an economic engine for this city of 92,500, strengthening its arts community and increasing tourism.

Pam Floyd, who recently opened a gallery in a former tattoo parlor, said the 82,000-square-foot museum, first proposed in 1999 to replace a smaller museum, is itself a work of art. “We knew that was going in across the street,” Ms. Floyd said. “I wanted to be downtown when the arts are a growing presence.”

Mayor Nelson Harris predicts that the new museum will draw people for repeated visits to this city, roughly halfway between Washington and Charlotte, N.C.

Georganne Bingham, the museum’s executive director, wants to erase the perception that wealthy patrons foisted the museum on the city. She said modest admission fees of $7 to $9, school programs and family nights would attract local residents to the museum’s 19th- and 20th-century American art and a special exhibit of Rembrandt paintings and etchings. “Art museums are usually considered elitist,” Ms. Bingham said, “but we’re determined to break the feeling.”

Mr. Stout, the architect, sees the museum as reflecting Appalachia’s undulating hills, cascading waterfalls and linear rail lines. He said he thought it could contribute to the city’s revival. “I hate to think one building takes the heat for transforming an entire city,” he said, “but I think it’s a contributing factor to the cultural richness of the city.”

Not everyone agrees. “It looks kind of weird,” said Brenda Gooden, a payroll clerk and lifelong resident of Roanoke. “And there’s not much else here in Roanoke, so I doubt it’ll be that much of a draw.”

Michelle Bennett, who has worked for several local arts organizations, said many residents feared that the museum’s capital campaign had drained Roanoke’s art patrons, leaving little money for the building’s operations and other causes. “The money is so tight now,” said Miki Overcast, a gallery owner. “I wonder what will happen when they have to pay the heating and air-conditioning bills.”

John Reburn, whose gift shop is next to the new museum, said sentiment softened this summer as the building took shape. “Because of my location, I get all of the nay-sayers and the happy museum people,” Mr. Reburn said. “In the last few months, even the locals who were grumpy stare at it. It’s like children: you have to hand it to them before they appreciate the gift.”

The Milwaukee Museum of Art gained attention after a new pavilion designed by the Spanish architect opened in May 2001. Attendance surged initially, to nearly 540,000 in 2002 from 165,000 in 2000, before dropping to about 300,000 annually in recent years.

Russell Bowman, the museum’s former director, said the $125 million pavilion helped residents see their working-class city in a more cosmopolitan light. But Mr. Bowman said he was not sure a building alone could transform a city into a tourist destination. Curiosity seekers may come once, he said, but the trick is attracting repeat visitors. “Certainly, the challenge is to keep the interest alive through programs, exhibitions and events,” Mr. Bowman said.

Private donations are covering most of the cost of Roanoke’s new museum. Officials said $51 million of the project’s $66 million cost had been raised from about 175 arts patrons. A $3 million endowment for operations has also been acquired. City, state and federal governments are providing $12 million. The city also donated the museum’s one-acre site, valued at $1.1 million.

Nicholas F. Taubman, a Roanoke native who is the United States ambassador to Romania, and his wife, Jenny, who heads the museum’s capital campaign, contributed $25 million. “I think the museum will be a hinge on which the economic future of downtown Roanoke will swing, as well as the region,” Mr. Taubman said. “It’s just the right thing in the right place.”

Mr. Hackney, the Atlanta fund-raiser, said residents would embrace the new museum as it progressed from blueprints to steel beams. “People hated the Eiffel Tower when it first went up, and now it is cherished,” he said. “I’m predicting the same turnaround in sentiment for Roanoke.”

People Sway Vote For Museum Site
Monday, December 31, 2007 11:45 AM CST
Editor’s Note: Fort Smith’s success in bringing home the U.S. Marshals Service Museum was selected by the Times Record newsroom as the No. 3 story of the year. The No. 2 story, turmoil at the Fort Smith Police Department, will appear Sunday.

By Amy Sherrill – TIMES RECORD

The enthusiasm of the people pushed this western Arkansas city into first place almost a year ago as the site for the future U.S. Marshals Service Museum.

In February, U.S. Marshals Service Director John F. Clark visited the area and he said he noticed several things about the community and its people that reaffirmed his January decision. The city beat Staunton, Va., in a close competition.

A Season of Giving
by David King
(from the current issue of Buckhead Living Lifestyle Magazine)
This time of year is often called 'the season of giving', because of the tradition of gift giving at Christmas and Chanukah. But, it is also the season of philanthropic giving. More contributions are made to charities during November and December than at any other time of the year. The explanations for this seasonal generosity are many, but paramount among them is that December 31 marks the end of the tax year. While many of these giving decisions have been made earlier in the year, the approach of December 31 is the catalyst for writing the checks.
(to continue reading, please click here to open a copy of the article)

Reason for the season
Sunday, December 23, 2007
By Ryan Burr — News Herald Writer (Panama City, FL)

"In 20 years of work in the philanthropy field, Del Martin, chairwoman of the Giving USA Foundation, said recent trends show American giving is more successful when it's directed at the root cause of a societal problem, such as poverty and lifting up the working poor."
To read this entire article please click here.

Author, Author, Author . . .
 Now available...Essential Principles for Fundraising Success: An Answer Manual for the Everyday Challenges of Raising Money, by G. Douglass Alexander and Kristina J. Carlson.

Essential Principles for Fundraising Success is a single-source, easy-access guide that offers answers to the most commonly asked questions posed by professional fundraisers and volunteers. Organized in a clear, easy-to-use question and answer format, Essential Principles for Fundraising Success takes on the challenges that arise daily in the ongoing, high-pressured business of raising money. In this book, G. Douglass Alexander and Kristina Carlson offer insight from their combined forty-six years of experience working with thousands of nonprofit organizations. Based on the enduring principles of fundraising, this important resource shows how to master the three mainstays of fundraising-developing a case statement, creating a campaign strategy, and securing big gifts. Essential Principles for Fundraising Success also offers creative, out-of-the-box solutions for convincing reluctant board members and other stakeholders to follow proven, effective fundraising strategies .

To order a copy on Amazon today, click here.

AHM&P Takes Part in National Philanthropy Day

Last year marked the 25th anniversary of National Philanthropy Day in Atlanta. Presented by the Greater Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the NPD Awards luncheon acknowledges the individuals and institutions that make our community strong. This is the only event in Atlanta that brings together professional and volunteer fundraisers—along with individual and foundation philanthropists—to celebrate the role of philanthropy in Georgia.

Last year AFP and the state’s fundraising community honored civic leaders Madeline Reynolds Adams and Howell E. Adams, Jr. as the 2007 Philanthropists of the Year and Atlanta community leader Jane Cocke Black as the year’s Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year. They were recognized at the NPD luncheon on Tuesday, November 13 at The Georgia World Congress Center. Deborah Norville, Dalton, Georgia native, and host of television’s “Inside Edition,” was the emcee and held a special signing of her new book, “Thank You Power.”

The Adams were nominated by Columbia Theological Seminary and were among the Seminary’s most significant consistent and quiet donors over the past 20 years. In addition to support to the Seminar, the couple has also contributed to more than 30 local organizations, including The Marcus Institute, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, High Museum of Art and the Emory Winship Cancer Institute, to name a few. The Seminary described the couple as “modern-day prophets for philanthropy, spreading good news of the personal joys they find in giving.”

Jane Cocke Black was nominated by the Ben Franklin Academy, EARTH University Foundation and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. She has raised million of dollars for these and other Georgia organizations including the Chattahoochee Nature Center, High Museum of Art, Piedmont Hospital Foundation and Woodruff Arts Center.

Once again AHM&P was proud to sponsor the luncheon’s Seating Chart handout, which proved to be a very popular addition to the festivities in the past years. The seating chart not only provides a map to attendee’s tables, but also proved to be a great way for people to find friends and colleagues in the very crowded Georgia Ball Room of theGeorgia World Congress Center. AHM&P is proud of our long association and support of Atlanta's National Philanthropy Day celebration.

UNICEF designs new vision for future success
By Joe Rauch – Staff Reporter
Atlanta Business Chronicle – May 11, 2007

The large, annual fund-raising gala is the ultimate financial goal for many local nonprofits.

But just as UNICEF's annual "Designs of Hope" gala has become one of the city's signature philanthropic events, local UNICEF staff are now dismantling it in favor of a fresh focus and a new strategy.

The move comes just when nonprofit executives would normally increase their focus on what's become a mainstay fund-raiser.

Instead, board members at the Southeastern chapter for UNICEF are starting from scratch and re-envisioning how the organization will attract and retain donors long term.

"We probably could have gotten two or three more years from Designs of Hope," said Bentley Long, chairman of UNICEF's local board. "We didn't want people looking at Designs of Hope, and ultimately us, as 'Oh my gosh, they're doing that again?' "

According to industry observers, large-scale events aren't abandoned often by nonprofits.

"It's probably not as common as it should be," said David King, managing partner at Alexander Haas Martin & Partners. (Click here to read the full story)

Cincinnati Christian embarks on major reconstruction
Fall capital campaign hopes to raise $28 million
By Laura Baverman – Staff Reporter
Cincinnati Business Courier – May 25, 2007

The hilltop home of Cincinnati Christian University slowly will begin its $30 million transformation this summer. It's the start of a 10-year plan to build new facilities, renovate existing ones and enhance the brand of the oft-overlooked Price Hill institution.

Last fall, the 1,100-student private university hired GBBN Architects to help complete a six-month facilities and financial review, a major tier of its strategic plan. The review guided the university in prioritizing building efforts so the campus could support a doubled student body within a decade.

"Having a clear plan enhances our vision, and creates a sense of excitement about our future," said David Faust, president of the university, formerly called Cincinnati Bible College.

The plan also gives a focus to fund-raising efforts. Faust and the school's board will launch a "Beyond the Walls" capital campaign this fall to raise $28 million.

But before that, work will begin this summer on the first of three phases of campus-wide improvements. Trustees approved $2 million in short-term bonds May 11 to begin pre-construction and design work on a new 150-bed women's residence hall at the entrance to campus. The bonds also will support the renovation of the men's dormitory, the dining hall and will allow for new offices for the advancement department and larger space for the school's counseling center. An entry pavillion of 2,100 square feet will serve as a welcome center and student services office at the campus entrance. Finally, an unused hallway in Presidents Hall wil be converted to Heritage Hall, lined with memorabilia from past graduating classes.

"These are student-centered components to enhance the day-to-day experience of the students," said Tony Justice, director of student life.

In phase two, an old residence hall will be demolished to make way for a new library and student union building, called Information Commons, that overlooks the city. The current library building will be converted to an academic home for the graduate seminary program and an adult learning center. The third phase will include new athletic fields and a student fitness center. And another dormitory could be added depending on the demand.

The key to the plan was making the campus user-friendly for all of the university's constituents and focusing on its assets: prime real estate with a view of downtown. The biggest surprise to Faust and the board was that additional land didn't need to be acquired to meet their goals. Instead, aged buildings could be demolished to capitalize on space and the views.

"Densifying the campus makes for a better walkable campus," said Greg Otis, director of higher education for GBBN.

But the key to the plan's implementation is the success of its capital campaign. Board members will review the summer improvements and the initial success of the campaign in November before moving forward with construction of the first dormitory.

That "wait and see" strategy is important, said David King, president of an Atlanta-based fund-raising consultancy, Alexander Haas Martin & Partners.

"The one danger you run into is if you build the building on faith, you can shoot yourself in the foot. The sense of urgency is gone," he said. "It's a debt retirement campaign which donors are less excited about."

Southeast DeKalb, Buckhead residents give most to charity
Also those in south Fulton, north Fayette and portions of Clayton County
By MATT KEMPNER mkempner@ajc.com and MEGAN CLARKE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Published on: 04/17/07

As metro Atlantans scrambled to finish their taxes, many got a chance to tally how generous they were last year.

One point that stands out from an analysis of past income tax returns: Bigger incomes don't necessarily translate to proportionately greater giving.

Some of the most generous taxpayers live in south and east DeKalb County, south Fulton, north Fayette and portions of Clayton County, plus upscale areas in and around Buckhead, according to an analysis of ZIP code-level data from the Internal Revenue Service released in December.

They were among the 20 most-giving local ZIP codes based on itemized 2004 charitable deductions as a percentage of total adjusted gross income. Tax filers in those ZIP codes reported deductions representing an average of 4.2 percent to 5.8 percent of their adjusted gross income, an analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows.

The biggest giving rate was in 30038 in the Lithonia area. Tax filers there claimed charitable deductions averaging $2,159 out of $37,476 in adjusted gross income.

Areas of metro Atlanta that reported some of the lowest giving as a percentage of income include parts of intown Atlanta, Doraville, portions of Cobb County and the Norcross area of Gwinnett, Scottdale and bits of northern Cherokee and southern Coweta. They reported deductions averaging between 1.5 percent and 2.4 percent of their adjusted gross income.

If you factor out the two most affluent ZIP codes in the top 20 — both in the Buckhead area — the average income among the least and most generous ZIP codes is nearly identical.

Two things to keep in mind: Many people don't itemize their deductions, so their giving isn't included in the figures. And areas with more renters may appear less generous because fewer taxpayers have deductible mortgage interest that makes itemizing worthwhile.

Bible Belt or not, giving has its limits even in the most generous metro Atlanta ZIP codes. None of the areas came close to tithing 10 percent of their average adjusted gross income.

The national average for itemized giving was 2.4 percent in 2004, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute. Georgia's average was 3.2 percent.

What individuals give is crucial to the philanthropic world, because they give so much more than giant corporations and foundations. The largess from individuals accounted for three-quarters of all giving in the United States, according to the Giving USA Foundation, which tracks philanthropy. Much of that giving is itemized on income tax forms — from sweaters given to Goodwill to the checks put in Sunday offering plates.

Del Martin is in the business of giving, working as managing partner of Alexander Haas Martin & Partners, an Atlanta-based fund-raising consultant for nonprofits. But every year when Martin totals up her personal charitable giving for taxes, she's surprised.

"I always think, 'Gee, I thought I was more generous than that,' " Martin said. "And I always feel like I need to give more next year."

She said she generally ends up donating about 2 to 4 percent of her adjusted gross income.

"I think I'm like a lot of other people. When I'm actually giving the money away it hurts a little. It scares you. It feels like a sacrifice," Martin said. She's a baby boomer, she said, with that generation's concern about socking away enough money to support themselves into old age.

The tax man apparently is paying closer attention to claims of charitable deductions. Accountants warn that claims of supergenerous giving can be a red flag for IRS auditors. And the federal government recently tightened rules for receipts taxpayers must have to back up claimed donations to tax-exempt organization. It also has warned filers not to try to take credit for donated household items in less than good condition.

Individuals give in part because they feel it's part of their role in supporting society, Martin said. But getting a tax deduction makes the giving easier.

"It helps your heart convince your head to make the donation," she said.

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