WASHINGTON -- With rising unemployment and the stock market looking like a bungee jumper whose cord has snapped, it's hard to argue that people should continue their charitable giving.

And yet, I will make that plea.

I know that in tough times you want to pull back on your spending, including planned donations, but that's exactly when your giving shouldn't go down -- when the need is so great.

The way to continue giving is to be a regular donor. Although the percentage of American households that report giving to charity (67 percent to 70 percent) has remained constant in recent years, it's not always the same households, according to new research by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

The center studied the charitable giving of the same 8,000 families in 2000, 2002 and 2004, and found that nearly one-third alternate between donating and not donating. The researchers found that "persistent donors" give much more on average than others.

In 2004, consistent givers made total charitable gifts averaging $2,659. Occasional donors, people who gave in one or two of the three years, contributed an average of $820, according to the "Center on Philanthropy Panel Study."

Charitable giving is a vital part of the budget for my husband and me. We believe the line item on your budget for giving should be as important as your mortgage, rent or car payment. Make giving a priority and you're less likely to dispense with it in hard times.

In an unscientific study, I've looked at the individuals who I've been helping in a financial ministry at my church. By and large, those who make giving a priority -- whether it's tithing (giving one-tenth of your income to the church) or consistently donating money through a workplace giving campaign -- handle their money better.

Consistent givers can weather economic storms because they're better at budgeting. They let go of things that don't matter so they don't have to cut out the funds they've pledged to help others.

If I may, I'd like to recommend some ways to continue giving during hard times.

Let's start with how you organize the categories on your budget.

The category of charitable giving is often listed at the bottom of a budget form. If it's not dead last, it's tucked in the miscellaneous section.

Instead, move the category up closer to the top. We tend to fund our expenses starting with the most important -- housing or transportation, for example -- to the least important -- pet grooming or video rentals. When things get tight we start cutting from the bottom up because that's where more of the expendable costs are located.

On the budget sheet for my household, the line item for tithing is first, even before the mortgage payment. The line item for church offerings and charitable giving is listed right after major expenses such as housing, food and transportation.

Treat your donation like it's a bill, advises Melissa Brown, associate director of research at the Center on Philanthropy, who co-authored its donor stability study. Continued...