VOA慢速英语:Religion Gets Largest Share of Charity in US

Americans gave about two hundred ninety billion dollars to charity last year. That was ten billion dollars more than the amount of charitable giving in two thousand nine. The estimates are from the Giving USA Foundation and its research partner, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
美国人去年大约向慈善机构捐献了2900亿美元，这比2009年慈善捐赠总额超出了100亿美元。该估计数字来自Giving USA基金会和它的研究合作伙伴印第安纳大学慈善中心（Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University）。

Charities are noNPRofit organizations that raise money to provide social services or other programs. Giving USA has been reporting on charitable donations since nineteen fifty-six. The group estimates that about seventy-five million households gave to at least one charitable organization in the United States last year. A household is one or more people living in a home.
慈善机构是筹集资金，提供社会服务和其它项目的非盈利性组织。据报道显示，Giving USA基金会自1956年开始就慈善捐款。该组织估计，去年美国大约有7500万户家庭至少向一家慈善组织捐过款。一个家庭是指有一人或更多人居住一起。

The largest share of charitable giving goes to religious groups. Giving USA says they received thirty-five percent of all donations in twenty-ten. Some people give a percentage of their pay to religious organizations.
慈善捐赠的最大份额流向了宗教组织。Giving USA基金会称，宗教组织在2010年收到了全部捐赠的35%。有的人按照薪水的百分比向宗教组织捐赠。

Schools and other education-related organizations were second on the list. They received an estimated fourteen percent of all charitable giving last year.
学校及其它教育相关组织排名第二位。去年他们收到的全部捐赠预计有14%。

The federal tax agency, the Internal Revenue Service, recognizes donations to official charities. Those who give to charity may be able to get tax breaks and reduce the amount of taxes they owe.
联邦税务机构，国税局认可向法定慈善机构捐出的捐款。向那些慈善事业捐款的人们可以获得税收减免，和减少他们应缴纳的税额。

People who give to charity may want to know how their donations are being spent. Organizations like Charity Navigator and the American Institute of Philanthropy look at how charities spend the money they receive. Their reports and ratings offer a measure of how effectively the charities use their money. For example, donors can learn how much a group spends on services, compared to how much it spends on itself in administrative costs.
向慈善事业捐款的人们可能会想知道他们的捐款是如何被使用的。像慈善导航（Charity Navigator）和美国慈善协会（American Institute of Philanthropy）等组织将查看慈善组织如何使用他们收到的捐款。他们的报告和评价提供了一个对慈善机构如何有效使用捐款的衡量标准。例如，捐赠者可以了解到一家组织在社会服务上花了多少钱，并与他们自身的行政费用进行比较。

Charity Navigator recently asked donors and charities to answer questions about year-end giving trends this year. More than five hundred donors and one hundred charities completed the questionnaire.
慈善导航最近要求捐赠者和慈善机构回答今年年终捐赠趋势的有关问题。500多名捐赠者和100多家慈善机构完成了调查问卷。

On average, these charities said they received forty-one percent of all their donations in the last few weeks of the year. Charity Navigator also asked donors about the kinds of charities they would likely support this holiday season. Human services rated at the top of the list. Arts, culture and humanities rated at the bottom.
平均而言，这些慈善机构称，他们在今年最后几周收到了占总捐款数41%的捐款。慈善导航也询问了捐赠者这个假期他们可能会支持的慈善机构类型。公共事业居于榜首。艺术、文化和人文垫底。