PORTLAND (AP) - Total donations to nonprofit organizations in Oregon dropped in 2002, even though residents gave a higher percentage of their income, according to a report issued by the Oregon Community Foundation.

Though the trends seem at odds, the numbers were compiled when Oregon was in the middle of its recession.

Released this week, the foundation's report on philanthropy found that residents donated an average of 2.41 percent of their income to charitable organizations in 2002, up from 2.3 percent the year before.

Total donations to Oregon nonprofits, however, decreased from $9.9 million to roughly $9.7 million, the report said.

The foundation is an umbrella agency for hundreds of cultural, arts and humanitarian nonprofit efforts across the state. It tracked financial data and tax returns for charitable organizations from 1997 to 2002 in issuing its ninth report on giving trends. The foundation used the latest available tax data at the time it conducted the survey.

Greg Chaille, the foundation's president, said newer figures should show more giving because of the many donations that followed the Dec. 26 tsunami that slammed into Southeast Asia.

"We have no doubt that the 2003-2005 years will show steady increases in giving," Chaille said. "And it's not just because of the tsunami. The trends are showing that Oregonians are recognizing that nonprofits here are valuable tools in improving the quality of life. Giving during the recession didn't drop off that much, so we're encouraged."

The report also found that the number of nonprofits in Oregon increased 3.2 percent in 2002, and financial gifts to education programs dropped 22 percent in 2002.

Chaille chalked up the education decline to the "normal ebb and flow" in capital campaigns by colleges and universities. Also, giving to education tends to decrease when local government agencies approve tax increases to aid public school districts.

Seventy percent of nonprofits reported a spike in volunteers over the past five years, the report found.