According to a recent report that tracks nonprofit giving, giving to charities across the country rose last year to a record high of more than $390 billion.
Every year Giving USA reports on giving patterns to charitable organizations throughout the United States.
According to Giving USA 2017: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2016, charities across the country saw an overall 2.7 percent increase in charitable giving from American individuals, estates, foundations, and corporations in 2016. Most of the increase came from individual gifts, which totaled approximately $281.86 billion, an increase of nearly 4 percent from the previous year.
According to report researchers, the growth in individual giving is believed to be related to the stronger economy, which showed growth in both personal consumption and disposable personal income. The Standard & Poor’s 500 finished the year up more than 9 percent during the period -- a healthier showing than mixed reports of prior years.
Giving grew among all nine major categories of recipient organizations: religion; education; human services; giving to foundations; health; public-society benefit; arts, culture, and humanities; international affairs; and environment and animals. This growth has only happened six times in the past 40 years, according to the researchers. Giving to environment and animal groups saw the largest increase among the categories with an increase of 7.2 percent.
The Giving USA report is researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Data in the annual report is often used by charitable leaders and fundraisers for research and planning purposes.