Charitable giving to arts and cultural institutions nationwide rose 10% in 2006, the largest annual increase in six years, according to a philanthropy report released today. Development directors reported a similar trend at New York City arts and cultural institutions.

Americans gave an estimated $295 billion to all charitable organizations in 2006, up from $260 billion last year, the Giving USA Foundation report said.

An executive director of development at the Guggenheim Museum, Adrienne Hines, said the museum watched individual exhibit sponsorship donations double and saw a $3 million increase in personal contributions in 2006 compared to 2005.

“The climate couldn’t be any better for us than it is right now,” Ms. Hines said. “There’s a lot of people with a lot of money that have decided they’d get into the arts.”

Likewise, the New York Public Library saw an 11% increase in its donations in fiscal year 2006 over 2005.

“After September 11 when public support for libraries declined, the private sector really stepped up,” the vice president for development, Heather Lubov, said, noting major increases in individual giving, particularly in support of their renovation project of children’s rooms at branch libraries.

“Individuals have been extremely generous, as has the foundation community,” Ms. Lubov added.

A $7.5 million pledge by the Starr Foundation also boosted the library’s donation pool, most of which was received as cash in 2006.

The increase in arts giving is largely due to more creative programming and fund raising, a senior fund-raising consultant with the firm Marts & Lundy, Lynne LaMarca Heinrich, said. Ms. Heinrich, whose clients are primarily nonprofit arts organizations, advises them to expand their scope of possible donors and increase their programming to attract new audiences.

“[Cultural institutions] are doing a better job of making themselves relevant to a broader constituency,” Ms. Heinrich said. “There’s a broader group of people of all ages in all sectors who are making gifts. They’re finding [art] is a much more important part of their lives.”

The Guggenheim has developed new programs such as First Fridays — parties geared at young people that feature DJs — in efforts to attract new visitors and solicit them for donations later.

“The world has discovered the joys of museums and collecting art, and they are excited and feel a direct reward from being involved with creative people,” Ms. Hines said. “We’re just working harder and working smarter.”

The report was published by the Giving USA Foundation and written and researched by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Giving is divided into nine categories, and in 2006, religious congregations received the most money, an estimated 32.8% of the total.