Charitable giving in the United States hit a record high last year, exceeding $400 billion for the first time, according to “Giving USA 2018: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2017.”
The national report, released in June, indicated that charities received an estimated $410.02 billion from individuals, foundations, corporate giving, and bequests in 2017. This represents an inflation-adjusted increase of three percent over the 2016 total.
Gifts from individuals totaled $286.65 billion, an increase of three percent adjusted for inflation, and represented 70 percent of total giving.
Giving by corporations saw the largest increase (compared to the other sources of giving), totaling $20.77 billion for an increase of 5.7 percent when adjusted for inflation.
The most common type of organization to receive contributions was religious organizations, which received $127.37 billion in contributions, a 0.7 percent increase when adjusted for inflation.
Giving to seven of the other eight categories of charitable organizations covered in the report grew during the year, with the largest growth occurring in giving to foundations, which increased 13.1 percent when adjusted for inflation compared to the previous year. The only type of organization that saw a drop in giving for the period was for international affairs, which saw a decrease of 6.4 percent adjusted for inflation.
The report’s authors attribute the growth in giving to strong stock performances and healthy economic conditions.
The report, which is used by charitable professionals throughout the nation to develop fundraising strategies, has been produced annually since 1956. The report is released by the Giving USA Foundation and researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Additional information can be found at www.givingusa.org.