By Holly Hall

Charities that provide food, shelter, and other services to the needy saw contributions rise 2.7 percent, to $27.1-billion, last year after dropping by 15.8 percent in 2008, Giving USA estimates. Such organizations account for about 9 percent of all giving.

Donations to City Mission, which operates a shelter and feeding program in Cleveland, fell by $300,000 to $5.3-million in 2009. Much of the decline was in foundation grants, says Jim Whiteman, chief development officer, adding that he expects grants to fall even more in coming months.

Prevent Child Abuse, a Springfield, Ill., organization, raised $70,000 last year, down from $82,000 in 2008. The charity is organizing a walkathon that director of development Lorie Odenettel hopes will raise $25,000, which would more than make up for last year’s decreases.

At the Salvation Army’s Texas division, giving last year rose by about 2 percent to $32-million. But demand for help grew so much faster that the increase will do little to ease the strain on the charity, its leaders say. Requests for emergency housing for one or two nights grew by 30 percent, and the number of people seeking help paying their rent rose by 26 percent. Meanwhile, the number of homeless people who stayed at the charity’s longer-term shelters increased by 7 percent.

While statistics are not yet available for this year, “demand is not going down,” says Mary Archer, the division’s assistant development director. “It is continuing to rise.”

But in San Diego, the local Salvation Army offers a stark contrast. A big reason is that it runs one of seven new recreational centers nationwide designed to supplement the Army’s traditional services to the neediest, most vulnerable Americans. Created partly with a $1.5-billion bequest from the McDonald’s heiress Joan Kroc, Kroc Centers serve the community at large, not just the poor.

The San Diego center, which is widely used by families from throughout the metropolitan area, has managed to achieve increases in each of the past three years, even amid the economic downturn. And last year it raised $378,733, a 49.8-percent increase over 2008.

Major John Van Cleef, executive director of the Kroc Center, attributes the increases to “the high quality of experience our donors have with their community center.” The center offers fitness programs such as gym memberships and dance lessons as well as many other resources to area residents, regardless of their ability to pay.

Donors can see this cross-cultural and cross-economic experience taking place, Mr. Van Cleef says, and they can see the difference it is making in kids’ lives. One sign of the center’s success is a campaign in which more than 125 volunteers ask their friends, family members, and colleagues for a gift that helps pay for programs and scholarships for activities such as skating lessons for children whose families cannot afford to pay the cost. The monthlong “Heroes With a Heart” campaign, as it is known, raised $67,000 last year, a 12-per-cent increase.

Other social-service charities have overcome the odds and are emerging from the recession. For example, the Robin Hood Foundation, which raises money from hedge-fund managers and others in the financial-services industry to fight poverty in New York, collected $72.7-million last year with its annual gala, a record. It set another record last month, when the same event brought in more than $88-million.