The Giving Institute’s annual report, Giving USA, was released today! Giving USA is the longest-running, most comprehensive report on giving in the U.S.
This year, the report identified three major themes:
Americans gave $449.64 billion to charity in 2019, the second-highest year for giving behind 2017. The growth in total giving was driven primarily by individual giving.
Growth in giving was largely due to positive US economic conditions in 2019.
Giving from 3 out of the 4 sources and giving to all but one of the nine major types of recipient charitable organizations grew in 2019.
Other key points were:
Giving reached nearly $450 billion in 2019
Giving by corporations, foundations, and individuals all increased in 2019, with donations from individuals making up 69% of total giving in 2019.
The number of individual donors is down overall, while foundations are expanding their philanthropic footprint.
Giving to public society benefit, arts/culture, education, environment, health, human services, foundations, and religion all grew last year.
Giving to international affairs was the only major type of recipient that shrank. This is likely due to the relatively low number of natural disasters overseas and the high number of domestic disasters such as the California wildfires.
The state of giving in 2020 depends on the economic, political, and social climate and how organizations react to them. The momentum in giving going into this year combined with the historical context informs organizations on how to react.
Due to the current health crisis, there will likely be an emphasis on giving to basic needs in 2020.