Total 2023 Giving Shows Decline From Previous Year

The latest Giving USA: The Annual Report for Philanthropy was released this week, showing total giving of $557.16 billion in 2023. Giving USA is published by the Giving Institute with research conducted by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. As reported by both the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Times, while this total shows a 1.9% increase over 2022, there was a decline of 2.1% in inflated-adjusted dollars. The decline in inflation-adjusted contributions also signals a continuing decline in the number of U.S. households in the U.S. that donate to charity. As reported in the Chronicle, individual donors accounted for 73 percent of overall giving in 2013 but now account for only 67%. After adjusting for inflation, the $374.40 billion in giving by individuals suffered a decline of 2.4% from the previous year’s total.

Giving USA shows the sources of the total $557.16 consists of the following:

Individuals – 67% - $374.40 billion
Foundations – 19% - $103.53 billion
Bequests – 8% - $43.68 billion
Corporations – 7% - 36.55 billion

The distribution* of funds by type of organization are:

Religion – 24% - 145.81 billion
Human services – 14% - 88.84 billion
Education – 14% - 87.69 billion
Gifts to grantmaking foundations – 13% - $80.03 billion
Public-society benefit – 10% - 62.81 billion
Health – 9% - $56.58 billion
International affairs – 5% - $29.94 billion
Arts, culture & humanities – 4% - $25.26 billion
Environment and animals – 3% - $20.66 billion
To individuals** – 3% - $20.66 billion

*Giving USA report the type of organization dollar distribution should be adjusted by subtracting $61.66 in unallocated giving.
**Giving to Individuals consists of in-kind gifts made by pharmaceutical companies to patients in need.

After adjusting for inflation, the top three categories in terms of increases over 2022 are: Gifts to Foundations (up 10.8%), Public-Society Benefit (up 7.2%) and Education (up 6.7%).

Heart of Giving Podcast

This week’s Heart of Giving Podcast features Greg Warner, the author of Engagement Fundraising: How to Raise Money for Less in the 21^st Century and CEO and Founder of MarketSmart, a marketing software and services firm that helps organizations prioritize and cultivate major donors and legacy supporters.

Recent Reports

We are always working with charities to publish or update reports for donors. Visit Give.org or local BBBs to check out any charity before giving. Our recently evaluated charities include:

• Community Table
• Ocean Conservancy
• PCI-Media Impact

Finally, remember to let us know by going to give.org/charity-inquiry if you are interested in seeing a report on a charity not on the list and we will do our best to produce one.