Gary Rosenblatt is editor and publisher of The (New York) Jewish Week. He and other reporters at the paper have written extensively about the effects of the recession and the Madoff scandal on Jewish philanthropies.

Mary Oates is a lecturer in economics at Regis College in Weston, Mass. She is an expert on Catholic philanthropy in America.

Tami Heim is president and CEO of the Christian Leadership Alliance in San Clemente, Calif., which works with some 4,500 church and parachurch organizations worldwide. The CLA sponsored a study (see in background section) in April on the effects of the recession on Christian nonprofits.

Naomi Levine is executive director of New York University’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising and is an expert on Jewish philanthropy and nonprofits.

The Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal encourages donations that support small, local, often faith-based grassroots associations.

The Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College, a Jesuit school, examines the relationship between spirituality, wealth and giving. Paul Schervish is director.

Read a Sept. 29, 2009, Associated Press story (posted by the National Conference on Citizenship) about the recession’s effect on social service charities, some of them religion-based.

Read a July 9, 2009, story in The Christian Post about a survey showing that Christian nonprofits are increasingly relying on volunteers. The study, conducted by J. David Schmidt & Associates for the Christian Leadership Alliance, showed that one out of five Christian nonprofits is relying on volunteers to offset labor and income losses due to the recession.

Read a July 2009 Religion News Service story (posted by the Adventist Review) about the closing of Michigan-based Christian relief group International Aid due to financial woes, and job cuts at World Vision, one of the largest evangelical relief agencies.