Corporations and their executives who traditionally have supported charities are slowing down giving this year, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Bear Stearns Companies, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch are among the companies that used to be big donors — and now have folded or been bought.

And many executives are holding back because of business woes.

For example, David Koch, an executive vice president of Koch Industries, an energy and manufacturing company in Wichita, Kan., and the largest private corporation in the United States, said he is turning away solicitations for new gifts because he expects earnings from his company to sink 50 percent this year. (See The Chronicle’s profile of Mr. Koch.)

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