Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(BOSTON) -- The recovery process for many victims of the Boston Marathon bombing will be slow, arduous and expensive. Numerous victims suffered severe injuries to their lower limbs, with multiple patients having one or more amputations.
But the victims will not be without financial help as they recover.
The public outpouring of support to Boston after the bombings has also translated monetarily, with millions of dollars in donations for victims already made. More than $10 million has been raised for the victims and their families through the One Fund Boston. More than $1 million more has been raised through individual online fundraising sites for victims.
The creation of the One Fund Boston was announced Tuesday by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. The fund is designed to streamline donations into one account, which will then be divvied up to victims and their families.
"I am humbled by the outpouring of support by the business community and individuals who are united in their desire to help," Patrick said in a statement. "At moments like this, we are one state, one city, and one people."
Kenneth Feinberg, who also oversaw the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund and the victim funds for the Aurora, Colo., shooting, has been tapped to administer the project.
Multiple corporations have pledged to donate, including the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Bruins and Bank of America. Adidas has pledged to donate all profits from Boston Marathon merchandise to the fund.
While donations to the One Fund Boston are still coming in, it is unclear when the money will be distributed to victims and their families.
For immediate access to funds, family and friends of victims have started using online fundraising sites to help with mounting medical bills and other expenses. Websites such as GoFundMe.com and GiveForward.com allow users to raise money very quickly and are paid out at the end of the scheduled fundraising drive.
Brooke Gibbs used GoFundMe.com to raise more than $300,000 from 7,906 users in just three days for Jeff Bauman Jr. A graphic photograph of Bauman, who lost both of his lower legs in the bombing, made headlines after the attack.
"We want to help in every which way we possibly can to get Bauman back on track as soon as possible," Gibbs wrote in a post. "Medical bills are going to start rolling in, let's get a head start on helping out Bauman and his family!"
According to a study conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management in 2011, prosthetics are covered by 70 percent to 75 percent of employer-sponsored insurance plans. For those who are not covered by insurance, prosthetics can cost approximately $40,000 per limb.
Gibb's fundraising goal for Bauman is $1 million.
Alyssa Carter also used the site to create a page for Celeste and Sydney Corcoran, a mother and daughter injured the blast. Sydney and Celeste Corcoran were both standing near the finish line when the bombs went off. Celeste Corcoran lost both of her lower legs and Sydney Corcoran had shrapnel embedded in her legs.
"There is a long road ahead -- both physically and emotionally -- and we're hoping to relieve some of the financial burden by raising funds in their name," Carter said in a post.
The fundraising page for the mother and daughter had raised more than $450,000 from a goal of $750,000 as of Saturday.
On GiveForward.com, a dedicated Boston Support Page let users choose between supporting 13 families affected by the bombing. Collectively they have currently raised $719,957.
The sites also have staff members that watch the fundraisers and contact users to ensure the websites are not used to support scams. According to Nate St. Pierre, the director of communications at GiveForward.com, the website has cancelled about 20 attempted fundraisers.
Both websites deduct money from transactions, the website GoFundMe.com deducts 5 percent from every donation and GiveForward.com deducts 7 percent from every transaction.
Scott Olson/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- As the end of the year approaches, many Americans are searching for the best organizations to give to.
In 2011, Americans donated $217.79 billion, up 3.9 percent from 2010, according to an annual report on philanthropy from the Giving USA Foundation.
But this year a lukewarm job market might mean only a moderate bump in donations over past years.
"We expect to see perhaps a very modest increase. While the economy has improved, it is far from robust, and the unemployment rate continues at a high level," said Joanne Reisser, vice president of development at Charity Navigator, a nonprofit group that evaluates charities.
In addition to a slowing job market, Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast about two months ago, causing an economic loss of $35 billion to $45 billion in the area affected.
The storm, which hit the U.S. in late October, could have an impact on end of the year giving, said one expert.
"Since Hurricane Sandy occurred so close to the end of the year, that may impact December giving," Reisser told ABC News. "Thirty percent of annual giving occurs in December, with 10 percent given in the last two days to take advantage of tax breaks. With the likelihood of going over the fiscal cliff looming and the uncertainties inherent therein, people may decide it's better not to give this year," she said.
In the run-up to the end of the year, Charity Watch CEO Daniel Borochoff said charitable donations could remain flat but said donations related to Superstorm Sandy weren't expected to have a huge impact on overall donations, because they only accounted for 1 percent of charitable giving. Consequently, with the threat of cuts to government programs, Borochoff said Americans should consider giving to national and local programs that help the needy. Charity Watch rates charities, helping donors to make informed decisions.
"There's a lot of needy veterans and a lot of F-rated groups and A-rated groups and people need to be careful," Borochoff told ABC News.
And just what earns a charity an F?
"A lot of what the F groups do is they educate you that needy people have needs and don't do much to help people," said Borochoff.
Borochoff suggests requesting an organization's tax forms, financial statements, and if the charity is soliciting donors, take care, because much of a donation could end up going toward paying the solicitor.
Keep in mind that the Internal Revenue Service is not just about tax forms. Anyone wanting to donate should refer to the IRS for tips on year-end gift-giving, including guidelines on what qualifies as a charitable donation.
Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- There's Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and now charities are starting what they hope will become a national day for giving that will join the holiday lexicon: Giving Tuesday.
As of Friday, #GivingTuesday had 2,065 partners listed on the movement's website, including corporations, nonprofits, schools and religious groups.
The idea for the campaign sprung from the 92nd Street YMCA deputy executive director Henry Timms and Kathy Calvin, CEO of United Nations Foundation. Timms began thinking about the concept during the holidays last year, and the idea gained momentum this past spring.
"When 92Y's Henry Timms called he explained the opportunity this way, 'We have a day for giving thanks, two days for getting deals. Why shouldn't there be a day for giving back?'" Calvin said.
She said the UN Foundation loved the idea.
"There are so many creative ways that people can volunteer and donate in today's world of social media," Calvin said. "A national day of giving back around the holiday shopping season just makes sense. It helps people everywhere make the most of their philanthropic side."
The organizers, including public relations firm Fenton Communications, are asking partners who have the capability of collecting data to report how much they raise on Tuesday, how many people volunteered at an event, or other relevant information. They hope to report those figures on Wednesday.
But will Giving Tuesday catch on, especially in light of the expected increase in retail holiday sales?
Devin Hermanson, senior marketing director of relief organization World Vision, said he hopes so.
According to a phone survey by Harris Interactive and World Vision, 83 percent of Americans say they would prefer to receive a meaningful gift that would help someone else instead of a traditional gift like clothing or electronics.
However, the percentage of people willing to give a charitable gift as a present has fallen.
Last year, 51 percent of U.S. adults said they would be "more likely" to give a charitable gift as a holiday present. This year, that percentage dropped to 45 percent.
"Holiday shopping is treated like an Olympic event," Hermanson said. He hopes the same attention will be paid to Giving Tuesday.
ABC News/Ma'ayan Rosenzweig(NEW YORK) -- Which states are more generous about giving money to charities? Red or blue states? A report by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, "How America Gives," uses the most recent available IRS data from 2008 to find out.
The answer, according to the report, is that people in Republican-leaning states give somewhat more, mostly because of religious ties. The Chronicle studied individual tax returns and studied demographic characteristics such as religion and political affiliation. The report found that states that were in favor of the 2008 presidential candidate John McCain gave higher percentages of discretionary income toward charities.
The state of Utah, where a majority of residents are Mormon and encouraged to give 10 percent of their income to the church, had the highest percentage -- 10.6 percent. Residents in Utah had an estimated median discretionary income of $49,551.
The state of Utah shows how important religion is to giving, said Peter Panepento, the Chronicle of Philanthropy's assistant managing editor. In Utah, the estimated median contribution was $5,255, as reported to the IRS on itemized tax returns.
The District of Columbia followed Utah, with people there giving an average of 7.7 percent of their salaries to charity. The district, the only ranking in the top five that swung Democrat in the last presidential election, has an estimated median discretionary income of $39,045.
After religion, diversity, especially in an urban area such as the District of Columbia, is a major factor affecting philanthropy. In other words, where and with whom someone lives affects his or her giving habits, Panepento said.
People who made over $200,000 a year and lived in wealthier ZIP codes gave in lower numbers than those in more economically diverse ZIP codes, the Chronicle found.
Mississippi, a Bible-belt state, ranked third in philanthropic giving, another example of the relationship between giving and religion. The state had an estimated median contribution of $3,998 with a giving percentage of 7.2 percent of income. The estimated median discretionary income was $55,264.
The state of Alabama ranked fourth with a giving percentage of 7.1 percent and an estimated median giving contribution of $4,007. The estimated median income for residents is $56,493.
Also in the Bible belt, Alabama has strong religious ties that encourage people to give more of their income to the church and charitable causes.
The state of Tennessee ranked fifth, with a giving rate of 6.6 percent and a median contribution of $3,807. The median discretionary income is $58,097.
A number of religious denominations are headquartered in Tennessee, including the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention.
Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- As Americans begin to divide down party lines over their presidential preferences in the 2012 election, so too are many of the country's largest corporations.
From Google to Marriott and Dreamworks Animation to the United Parcel Service, some of the largest companies in the country are forking over big bucks to support candidates, occasionally leaning heavily to one side of the political aisle.
But while the predictably partisan labor groups are going blue and the often-conservative oil companies are going red, some less overtly political businesses are taking sides as well.
The United Parcel Service, or UPS, has so far doled out $1.2 million in the 2012 election, about 70 percent of which went to Republicans or conservative groups, according to disclosure data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Goldman Sachs, Marriott International and The Home Depot have also disproportionately supported Republicans.
But while the majority of the political contributions UPS and its employees gave supported the GOP, more than $10,000 went to President Obama and a similar amount went to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., the center's data shows.
Internet giant Google has, as a whole, come down on the side of Democrats, with about 70 percent of the $1.1 million the company has spent on this election cycle going to Democratic candidates or liberal groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
But Google's political action committee's spending is split relatively evenly between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, spending $150,000 on Democrats and $143,000 on Republicans. However, Google employees have overwhelmingly backed Obama, donating close to $140,000 to the president's re-election campaign through the end of 2011.
Bob Biersack, a senior fellow at the Center for Responsive Politics, said that while a few corporations tend to favor one party over the other, "a large majority of corporations are going to end up somewhere in the middle."
"Especially big corporations will split their giving across parties because they are worried about getting access," Biersack added. "In those cases they might be less concerned about what party the member [of Congress] is in and more concerned what committee they're on."
But the millions that each of these companies has reported spending on the 2012 election so far may be a mere fraction of the full amount these businesses are pumping into politics this year.
"We don't know what the corporate money is because we haven't seen [full] disclosures," said Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability, which is pushing for more reporting requirements on corporate political spending.
PRNewsFoto/The Salvation Army(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) -- The Salvation Army got a little more than the usual spare change this weekend.
Over the weekend, two gold bars were dropped into Salvation Army collection kettles -- a 10-gram gold bar worth up to $800 and a 5-gram gold bar worth $310 -- in different parts of Kansas City, Mo.
Last year the Salvation Army received an identical 5-gram gold bar worth $300, according to Major Michele Heaver, a Salvation Army spokeswoman.
The grand gestures aren't limited to gold, however. Two weeks ago, a loose 3/4-carat diamond said to be worth about $2,000 was found in a kettle outside a Walmart in Shawnee, Kan. The appraiser offered to place the stone in a setting so the Salvation Army could auction it off as a ring, but the group has not yet decided what to do with it.
Heaver said her unit has found silver dollars (including one that had never been circulated), tokens for pizza places, a gold wedding band, a dead goldfish and a scrabble piece in their collection kettles. Those are strange but small objects, able to fit through the small slot in the kettle. How the donor fit the gold bars into the slot is unknown.
Today, the Salvation Army helps more than 4.5 million people during the holidays, providing poor families with toys and Christmas food baskets.