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In 2023, total U.S. charitable giving grew nearly 2% to an estimated $557 billion, marking a new high. But this growth didn’t outpace inflation.
Adjusted for inflation, giving declined by 2.1%, according to “Giving USA 2024: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2023,”released in June 2024 by Giving USA Foundation and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The report provides a wide-ranging analysis of charitable giving in the U.S., including data and trends related to philanthropic contributions.
The findings are important for college advancement professionals and higher education employees as institutions look for new and continuing funding sources. In a Giving USA blog post, Joshua Meyer, vice president of market engagement for Bloomerang, offered advice for fundraising professionals based on the report’s findings.
According to a Lilly Family School of Philanthropy news release, the report offered positive signs, including that total giving remained above pre-pandemic levels, even when adjusted for inflation.
Who Gave in 2023?
Giving in 2023 was partly driven by growth in the stock market and gross domestic product, which support giving by corporations, foundations, and individuals. According to the news release, growth in personal income and consumer spending also lifted individual giving.
Individuals gave $374.4 billion, while foundations were next, doling out $103.5 billion. These figures increased over the previous year, but the rates dropped by almost 2.5% when adjusted for inflation.
Bequests were up nearly 5%, to $42.7 billion, while corporations gave $36.5 billion, an increase in current dollars of 3%.
Adjusting for inflation, bequests were flat at .6% while corporations were down slightly more than 1%.
Monthly Giving Increases
According to Meyer’s Giving USA blog post, the study found that revenue from monthly giving rose by 6%, accounting for 31% of all online revenue in 2023.
Meyer said donors who contribute ongoing monthly gifts can provide a greater lifetime value than supporters who give just once or sporadically.
“This is a reliable fundraising avenue to consider as the nonprofit sector weathers fluctuations in total giving,” he said.
Who Benefited from the Gifts?
According to Meyer, several sectors saw giving increases of more than 5% when adjusted for inflation, including:
These segments also coincide with the giving priorities of the wealthiest donors.
Measured in current dollars, giving grew in all nine categories of nonprofits that receive charitable contributions. In inflation-adjusted terms, seven of the nine subsectors saw growth.
Giving to religion and international affairs declined when adjusted for inflation, at 1% and 1.6%, respectively.
“Among the recipients of giving, we see the strongest growth among grantmaking organizations: giving to foundations and to public-society benefit organizations that include national donor-advised funds,” said Wendy McGrady, vice chair of Giving USA Foundation and executive vice president and COO of The Curtis Group in the news release. “Giving to these areas is also well above pre-pandemic levels, indicating that the wealthy donors who tend to give to grantmaking organizations continue to invest in the future of the nonprofit sector,” she added.
Additional Resources
Anna Pruitt and Jon Bergdoll, two of the lead researchers on the project, offer a deeper dive into the data in an article published by The Conversation.
