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.
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.
On the recipient side of Giving USA data, researchers show nine subsectors, i.e., parts of the sector that encompass various types of nonprofits, such as religion, health, education. The tenth category found in the charts on the recipient side is “Giving to Individuals” (primarily giving by pharmaceutical companies directly to patients). It is included as one of the recipient categories, but since it’s not a subset of recipient nonprofit organizations it is not described as a subsector, thus reported as nine subsectors but 10 items in charts. It is a significant enough amount that they need to be counted, but because they’re being directly distributed to individuals rather than given to organizations, they are not considered a “subsector.” The oddity was a less noticeable when these donations were smaller. In the most recent years, they’ve become larger by dollars than the environment/animals subsector.
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,” Una Osili, Ph.D., associate dean for research and international programs at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, said in a statement.
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 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, Osili also noted.
Industry experts stopped short of extolling these numbers. 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.
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,” wrote 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.