Sign of the Times: Costco to Accept Food Stamps
From the business page of Sunday’s Los Angeles Times: Costco (which “has catered to bargain-hunting but affluent shoppers”) announced late last week that it will start accepting food stamps across the country, after a test run in its New York stores. Costco executives said that during the New York testing “it turned out that new members said they were joining precisely because” the company accepted food stamps. [Italics added.]
The Center on Philanthropy has noted (in a February 27, 2009 press release that I’ve cited a number of times in the past six months), “changes in personal income and wealth, both of which have declined in the past year, have a greater impact on charitable giving than do tax rate changes.” In fact, in my experience virtually nothing has a greater impact on charitable giving than the state of the economy (though the performance of the stock market, often regarded as a leading indicator of the economy, also influences giving).
Until the economy (and the employment numbers) improve, nonprofits will continue to struggle with fund raising. And social service organizations will continue to experience a demand for services.
