Giving USA 2025 Report: Trends and Fundraising Insights for Nonprofits

Each year, the Giving USA Report offers the most comprehensive overview of charitable giving in the United States and the 2025 edition, which covers data from 2024, is no exception. As proud members of The Giving Institute, The Angeletti Group is pleased to bring you this timely analysis.

Here’s a breakdown of what the numbers from this year’s report tell us, and what they might mean for nonprofits and fundraisers alike.

Overall Charitable Giving

Charitable giving in the United States totaled an estimated $592.50 billion in 2024, an increase in both current dollars (+6.3%) and inflated adjusted dollars (+3.3%), a positive sign for philanthropy.

All major recipient subsectors saw growth in current dollars. However, after adjusting for inflation, giving to religious causes declined suggesting a shift in donor priorities toward a broader range of causes. In the 2025 report, religious giving made up just 25% of total donations, a significant reduction from more than 50% of the total share in 1994.

Giving by Source

Individuals – Total: $392.45 billion

Individual giving remains the primary driver of philanthropy, comprising about 66% of total contributions and growing by 5.1% in inflation-adjusted dollars, but in recent years other sources have played a growing role. Foundation giving has increased significantly, rising from just 7% of total contributions 40 years ago to 19% today. In contrast, individual giving accounted for 80% of all donations at that time.

Mega-gifts (gifts of $600M or more) have remained steady, accounting for 3% of individual giving, in line with recent years.

Foundations – Total: $109.81 billion

While foundation giving remained relatively flat (-0.5%) after adjusting for inflation, it still accounted for nearly 19% of total charitable contributions. Foundations typically grant funds from invested assets, so the stock market’s strong performance, especially over the past decade, has helped grow the endowments that support this giving.

According to FoundationMark, foundation assets rose from an estimated $533 billion in 2009 to $1.61 trillion in 2024. Additionally, the number of foundations has increased as more donors have embraced this form of philanthropy.

Bequests – Total: $45.84 billion

Though legacy giving declined in 2024 by 4.4% when adjusted for inflation, it still made up nearly 8% of total giving, emphasizing its continued strategic importance.

Corporations – Total: $44.40 billion

Corporate giving increased significantly at 6% inflation adjusted and accounted for about 7% of total giving (a 40-year high), including both cash and in-kind support.

Giving by Recipient Sector (in order of total share of giving)

1. Religious Organizations

• Total: $146.54 billion
• Growth (current): +1.9%
• Growth (adjusted): -1.0%
• Share of total giving: 23% (largest share)

Religious organizations have traditionally been the leading recipients of charitable giving. Religious organizations continue to receive the highest portion of total giving, despite modest real dollar declines of 1%.

2. Human Services

• Total: $91.15 billion
• Growth (current): +5.0%
• Growth (adjusted): +2.0%
• Share of total giving: 14% (tie for second)

Consistent growth this year and last reflects continued public concern for community-based and essential services. According to M+R’s Benchmarks 2025 report, online revenue for hunger and poverty relief organizations held steady in 2024, showing flat growth after three straight years of decline.

3. Education

• Total: $88.32 billion
• Growth (current): +13.2%
• Growth (adjusted): +9.9%
• Share of total giving: 14% (tie for second)

Giving to education is often closely tied to the stock market, which saw growth in 2024. Supporting this trend, other reports including the National Association of Independent Schools’ Facts at a Glance indicated increased giving among their constituencies. Although education reached an all-time high in both current and inflation-adjusted dollars in 2024, this followed a weaker year in 2023, making the strong 2024 results appear more like a rebound.

4. Foundations

• Total: $71.92 billion
• Growth (current): +3.5%
• Growth (adjusted): .5%
• Share of total giving: 11%

These include gifts to independent, community, and operating foundations, often through donor-advised funds and family giving vehicles. While giving to foundations showed modest growth in 2024, both contributions to and grants from foundations remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

5. Public-Society Benefit

• Total: $66.84 billion
• Growth (current): +19.5%
• Growth (adjusted): +16.1%
• Share of total giving: 11%

This diverse category, which includes donor-advised funds and advocacy organizations, saw the highest growth rate in 2024, bouncing back from a weaker 2023.

6. Health

• Total: $60.51 billion
• Growth (current): +5.0%
• Growth (adjusted): +2.0%
• Share of total giving: 10%

Health-related giving remains strong, especially in the wake of heightened attention to public and global health.

7. International Affairs

• Total: $35.54 billion
• Growth (current): +17.7%
• Growth (adjusted): +14.3%
• Share of total giving: 6%

Donor interest in global issues including humanitarian crises, climate, and health initiatives helped drive this significant increase.

8. Arts, Culture, and Humanities

• Total: $25.13 billion
• Growth (current): +9.5%
• Growth (adjusted): +6.4%
• Share of total giving: 4%

Giving to this sector reached an all-time high in inflation-adjusted dollars in 2024. A strong rebound suggests donors have a renewed interest in supporting cultural institutions as in-person programming and exhibitions expand.

9. Environmental and Animal Organizations

• Total: $21.57 billion
• Growth (current): +7.7%
• Growth (adjusted): +4.6%
• Share of total giving: 3%

Environmental and animal-related causes continue to resonate, particularly with younger and climate-conscious donors. Just like the arts, giving to these causes reached an all-time high in 2024.

Giving to Individuals

• Total: $23.59 billion
• Growth (adjusted): -14.4%
• Share of total giving: 4%

Mostly in-kind gifts, particularly medications, through pharmaceutical assistance programs. This sector saw the largest decline.

Key Takeaways: Challenges and Opportunities

Challenges

• Inflation’s hidden impact: While top-line numbers are encouraging, inflation continues to erode real giving power, especially among foundations and religious organizations.
• Volatility in bequests: Stagnant growth in this type of giving may signal a need for renewed focus on legacy giving strategies.
• Uneven growth across subsectors: While some areas like education and international affairs surged, others lagged, demanding a tailored approach for fundraisers, especially surrounding donor retention efforts.

Opportunities

• Corporate momentum: With corporate giving on the rise, nonprofits can tap into both philanthropic and CSR partnerships like employee volunteer and matching programs.
• Donor-advised funds & public-society benefit growth: This sector’s record gains suggest shifting donor behavior. Developing a strategy, along with an emphasis on impact reporting will be key.
• Overall rise in individual giving: A strong rebound offers a chance to re-engage major donors and build grassroots support.
• Positive trajectory and sustained momentum: Despite not reaching the inflation-adjusted peak of 2021, total giving in 2024 remains over 10% higher than in 2019, with all four sources exceeding pre-pandemic levels. This reflects a positive trajectory for philanthropy and signals that the elevated generosity seen during the pandemic has helped establish a more resilient and engaged donor base.

Final Thoughts

The Giving USA 2025 Report offers reason for optimism, with total giving exceeding $590 billion and growth across nearly every sector. But it also signals the need for strategic, inflation-aware fundraising and an understanding of evolving donor priorities. While economic uncertainty poses a hurdle today in 2025, growth in individual and corporate giving signals a donor community ready to invest in impact.

The Angeletti Group is here to help you turn insights into action. Explore our industry service pages to learn more about how we can help you achieve your goals.