A large charity gap will emerge during the expected financial troubles of 2009, according to the CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS business panel. Charitable needs are expected to rise by almost a fourth and donations to fall by just short of the same amount.

Even more than a desire to keep income and assets to themselves, panelists attribute the hesitations of high net worth individuals to give more generously to misgivings about the accountability and effectiveness of charities. If charities were perceived as more accountable for how they spend their budgets and more effective in what they do, donations would rise.

Child/youth poverty outdraws other social needs as reasons to give to charity.

These are the key findings from this past week’s Internet survey of CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel. The weekly business survey is undertaken for Canadian Business magazine under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.