Giving Hit $592.5 Billion In 2024, Beating Inflation

'Generosity is deeply rooted in our culture, but it doesn’t happen by accident.'

Individuals, bequests, foundations and corporations contributed an estimated $592.5 billion to U.S. charities during 2024. New data contained within Giving USA 2025: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2024 showed total giving outpaced inflation for the first time in three years, growing 6.3% in current dollars and 3.3% when adjusted for inflation.

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Individuals contributed $392.45 billion or 66% of all giving. Foundations chipped in $109.81 billion (19%). Bequests came in at $45.84 billion (8%) followed by corporations (7%). The numbers are rounded off, so the percentages add up to 101%. The overall percentages year-over-year were stable.

The report’s data is presented in actual (nominal) and real (adjusted for inflation) dollars. Depending on who is interpreting the numbers, the $592.5 billion is a record when it comes to actual dollars. When adjusted for inflation, giving in 2021 hit the equivalent of $643.81 billion.

Giving USA 2025: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2024 is published by the Giving USA Foundation. It is researched and written by academics and staff at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. A strong stock market and growth of gross domestic product (GDP) helped fuel the increase in total giving. All nine recipient subsectors had donations increase in current dollars. When adjusted for inflation, giving to seven of the nine categories increased, while giving to foundations remained relatively flat and giving to religion decreased slightly.

Giving logged its usual 2% of GDP. “What we tell everyone is that when giving grows, often the economy has grown. So, giving would have to grow faster than the economy for that 2% of GDP to move significantly,” said Una Osili, Ph.D., associate dean for research and international programs at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Giving to religion was the largest silo of funding at 23%. While this percentage is a far cry from the two-thirds of all giving during the 1950s and 1960s, it was still $55.39 billion more than human services, which came in second at $91.15 billion or 14% of all giving. Education tends to come in second, but this year finished third, $2.83 billion behind human services.

The number of people attending religious services has dropped for the past two decades. “We also know that people give because of their faith, their traditions, their values and learn about philanthropy through faith traditions,” said Osili. Nearly every subsector has a strong religious bent. She explained that researchers still see a “tremendous footprint” of faith and religion.

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“People who donate to churches are the most generous to non-church charities,” said Jon Bergdoll, associate director of data partnerships at Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and managing director of Giving USA. “People who donate to one cause are likelier to donate to another cause than people who are not donating to that first cause,” said Bergdoll. “I push back a little bit on the idea there is necessarily this singular pot of money people are giving out of,” he said.

The expansion of the charitable sector has put pressure on giving to religion, as houses of worship tend to be slower to use technology to innovate the giving process, said Osili.

Industry experts stopped short of extolling these numbers. “The headline from Giving USA – that charitable giving reached $592.5 billion in 2024 – is a testament to the resilience of generosity in America,” said Nathan Chappell, a fundraiser, author and technologist who is the head of artificial intelligence at tech firm Virtuous. “What’s not captured in this report is how many people contributed to that total. Without knowing how many donors are behind the dollars, we’re left with an incomplete picture, one that can create a false sense of optimism and, in turn, fuel complacency.”

Data from multiple fundraising platforms have documented the decline of small and mid-sized donors. The overall numbers are boosted by major donors who have investments that grew, increasing their ability to donate.

“Strong giving totals can obscure deeper systemic issues and diminish the urgency for radical change,” said Chappell. “While I wasn’t surprised by the 2024 numbers, we must remember that this data is a lagging indicator. All eyes will be on 2025.”

Contrast to other areas of the economy can be a challenge. “Comparing donation levels to GDP is a useful metric for understanding overall growth or contraction. However, it doesn’t tell us much about the opportunity to make positive change,” said Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer of GivingTuesday.

“The important thing is to understand that, as an industry, we have agency to shift giving trends and that doing so will require new approaches,” said Rosenbaum. “The macro economy is an important factor that impacts results, but we [GivingTuesday] estimate that there is at least $52 billion more a year that we could be realizing if we embraced some new fundraising practices.”

A lack of diversification in the donor pool makes the sector less resilient and less equitable, according to Rosenbaum. “People are ready to give if they’re invited, but we’re not extending that invitation broadly enough. Changing this could generate between $19 billion and $46 billion more in donations every year,” he said.

The role of the individual donor cannot be overstated, according to Amir Pasic, Ph.D., the Eugene R. Tempel dean and professor of philanthropic studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. “Individuals were responsible for the largest share of all donations made last year and they continue to play a central role in our nation’s philanthropic sector,” said Pasic.

“Individual giving is the one constant force for philanthropy through good and lean times,” said Gretchen Littlefield, CEO of Moore, a data, fundraising and technology firm. “The growth in individual giving is a powerful reminder that generosity remains deeply rooted in our culture, but it doesn’t happen by accident,” she said.

“In today’s crowded media landscape, nonprofits must actively tell their story to earn trust and inspire action. When mission, message and audience-driven marketing are aligned, people who connect with the cause will see the impact and that will drive giving forward,” said Littlefield.

Fundraising is being pressured during 2025. “With unprecedented headwinds already defining this year – from economic instability and political upheaval to growing public skepticism – the charitable sector’s resolve to reboot broken fundraising systems and deepen authentic connections with donors will no longer be a luxury, but an essential ingredient for survival,” said Chappell.

There are three major opportunities for fundraisers to broaden support and raise more money from everyday donors, according to Rosenbaum. He believes recurring giving is underleveraged and should be made a higher priority, and giving needs to be de-seasonalizing.

“The slump in activity from nonprofits in the middle of the year means we’re missing out on $23 billion from donors who are just as responsive to engagement as they are at other times,” Rosenbaum said. More people should be invited to give. There is a “large population of people who have a strong likelihood of giving, if asked, who are not being given the opportunity to support nonprofits,” Rosenbaum said.

Leaders of the Charitable Giving Coalition (CGC) in Washington, D.C., stressed that continued philanthropic momentum is not guaranteed, especially given economic uncertainty in 2025. “The Charitable Giving Coalition is encouraged by the strong growth in charitable giving last year, a reflection of Americans’ deep generosity and their unwavering support for the missions that serve families and communities across the country,” said Brian Flahaven, chairman of the CGC.

As nonprofits continue responding to growing needs across all sectors, CGC urged lawmakers to preserve and strengthen tax policies that empower Americans to give, ensuring that charitable organizations can continue their essential work nationwide.

This article was originally published by The NonProfit Times.

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