Charitable giving to arts, culture, and humanities organizations declined 6.4 percent in 2008 according to an annual survey released on Wednesday, more than three times the reduction in charitable giving generally.

The Giving USA Foundation, which has conducted the survey since 1956, reported that charitable giving by Americans fell by 2 percent in 2008, which was only the second year-to-year decline in over 50 years. Arts giving was tallied at $12.79 billion, down 6.4 percent from 2007. Del Martin, chair of the Giving USA Foundation, said considering how much wealth Americans lost over the last year, the numbers could have been much worse.