Charitable giving in 2024 was up, according to new Giving USA report

Charities received $592.5 billion in donations in 2024, a 3.3% increase over 2023, after adjusting for inflation, according to the most recent '' Giving USA ″ report, which takes a comprehensive look at U.S. philanthropy. Only one major cause — religion — saw an inflation-adjusted decline in giving.

The increase, reported Tuesday, may be small comfort to nonprofits that in 2025 experienced a significant drop in federal funding, more than 20,000 layoffs, increased demand for services, and market uncertainty that has led some donors to pull back.

''There's a lot of uncertainty, a lot of volatility, especially in financial markets,'' said Una Osili, an associate dean at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. ''When you're not sure exactly what's happening and the news is changing, that sometimes leads to donors just being uncertain and not acting. Uncertainty can dampen giving.''

Yet last year marked a return to typical giving patterns, said Jon Bergdoll, managing director for Giving USA. The pandemic and high inflation of recent years were atypical, he said, which meant giving patterns didn't always align with traditional models. In 2024, things lined up as expected.

''The fundamentals of giving are still working like they historically have in the U.S.,'' Bergdoll said. ''We've been through a lot of changes, and there's potentially more on the horizon, but it is important to take comfort in that we are still seeing the same things move and shift giving that 20 years ago moved and shifted giving.''

Strong performance by companies, particularly in the tech sector, pushed corporate giving up 6%, after adjusting for inflation. Individual giving was up 5%. Foundation giving was down by half a percent. Bequests (money given through wills) were down 4.4% — but Bergdoll noted bequests are historically volatile because the data can be shifted ''by a single billionaire passing away.''

The share of giving by each source remained stable over the past two years. In 2024, individuals accounted for the largest share of giving, 66%, followed by foundations at 19%, bequests at 8%, and corporations at 7%.

While inflation-adjusted giving by foundations was down, most organizations would not have felt the drop because in current dollars, foundations gave 2.4% more.

Giving by sector

Giving to various causes increased almost across the board. The biggest jumps were in giving to public society benefit, 16.1%; international affairs, 14.3%; and education, 9.9%. The public society benefit category includes organizations like the United Way, as well as commercial donor-advised funds, which have increased in popularity as contribution vehicles.

Compassion International had its best fundraising year ever in 2024, says Mark Hanlon, chief development officer. He noted that the group received some outlier gifts, but even taking those out, the organization had strong growth, which he attributed to the organization's ongoing engagement with donors.

At Brown University, giving was up, due in part to the end of a capital campaign that started in 2014. That helped the university keep annual donors engaged in giving, Sergio Gonzalez, senior vice president for advancement, said. ''It was not only the larger gifts that really were transformative but the cumulative giving from all,'' he said. ''Those dollars are critically important.''

The causes that showed the least growth included religion, which was down 1% after adjusting for inflation, gifts to foundations, which rose half a percent, and gifts to health and human services, which rose 2% for both categories.

Effects of government cuts

Nonprofits are worried — both about how much money will be coming in and the level of demand for their services.

Changes in federal funding are a big deal for human services organizations. The Mid-Ohio Food Collective, a food bank that serves more than 20 counties from rural Appalachia to urban centers like Columbus, is worried about potential funding cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and what they will mean for the people the food bank serves.

''There's been millions and millions of dollars in cuts to the food that was going to be coming to food banks,'' said Matt Habash, the group's CEO. ''For every meal we give out in the food-bank world, SNAP is nine meals. So you cut SNAP and there's no food there from the private sector to make that up.''

The uncertainty surrounding government support makes it hard to know what to ask for from foundations and major donors, said Roger Schulman, CEO of the Fund for Educational Excellence, a nonprofit that aims to close equity gaps for students in Baltimore City schools.

''The gaps that are being left by the clawback of federal dollars as well as the unpredictability of what federal dollars will or will not come in the coming year has made it really hard to understand where philanthropy can make a difference right now in a meaningful way,'' Schulman said. ''The gap is so big that even our largest foundations can only do so much to help sustain what is.''

The general feeling is it's going to be a rough year, says Jim Klocke, CEO of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network. Each year, the network surveys its roughly 700 members.

One perennial question on the survey: What do you think your financial condition will be like a year from now?

''Usually, you get more organizations that say my financial picture will be better in a year. Some say worse, but more say better,'' Klocke said. ''This time, almost everybody said they expect their financial condition to be worse a year from now. It's a pretty much across-the-board concern.''

Some organizations are worried about their donors' shifting priorities. Bergdoll, with Giving USA, said in times of crises, human-services organizations, which feed and house people, often see a bump in donations.

The Mid-Ohio Food Collective, for example, is trying to shift its messaging to persuade local donors to step up.

''The cavalry is not coming from the federal government,'' Habash said. ''Even our state government has cut back on the amount of money they're giving us. The messaging for us is really about local. We've got to convince people locally to do something.''

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Rasheeda Childress is a senior editor at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where you can read the full article. This article was provided to The Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as part of a partnership to cover philanthropy and nonprofits supported by the Lilly Endowment. The Chronicle is solely responsible for the content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.