The Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and Catholic Charities USA led the list of the 400 biggest philanthropies to which Americans gave $23.5 billion last year.

Giving was up 5 percent from a year earlier, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual survey released Sunday. It had risen 6.3 percent in 1994.Charities on the publication's "Philanthropy 400" list received about $1 out of every $6 donated to nonprofits.

Although donations to the Salvation Army dropped by 11.3 percent, that organization topped the list for the fourth consecutive year with collections of $644.3 million.

The American Red Cross, ranked second for three years, raised $456.6 million, which represented a 7.9 percent drop from 1994.

But a 25 percent increase in giving to Catholic Charities USA boosted that organization from No. 7 to No. 3 on the list, as it raised $419.4 million last year.

The survey also found:

- Community foundations, which raise and distribute money in a single geographic area, saw the biggest gain in donations - 93 percent.

- Giving rose 25.4 percent to museums and libraries, 17.5 percent to education groups, 17.4 percent to public broadcasting and 16.5 percent to arts organizations.

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- Giving to human-services groups - charities that help the poor - was down 5.3 percent.

- Public affairs groups saw giving drop sharpest, by 8.2 percent.

The 400 top philanthropies include 138 colleges and universities, 45 United Way organizations, 34 international groups, 21 human-services groups, 24 religious organizations, 21 health charities and 21 hospital and medical centers.

Rounding out the top 10 recipients, in order, were the American Cancer Society; Second Harvest, a national network of food banks; the United Jewish Appeal; Harvard University; Boys and Girls Clubs of America; the YWCA of the USA; and the American Heart Association.

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