Giving USA Report: American giving up in 2014

The Giving USA annual report, just released today, brings great news. American giving surged to $358 billion in 2014, the largest amount ever recorded.

This includes an estimated increase in giving by individuals of 5.7%. According to Giving USA:

“The single largest contributor to the increase in total charitable giving in 2014 was an increase of $13.9 billion in giving by individuals–58% of the total change between 2013 and 2014.”

Giving by individuals represented 72% of the total, and some portion of foundation giving can be attributed to individuals through family foundations and donor advised funds. Foundations themselves have also increased giving substantially, with an 8.2% increase. As expected, bequest giving continues to rise, with an estimated increase of 15.5%.

Individual giving has not risen as sharply in recent years in comparison to foundation and corporate giving, but the total for individual gifts is still just shy of the 2007 peak. The Chronicle of Philanthropy unpacks the numbers in an article today. A live discussion will also be held today at 1:30 ET.

Total giving as a percentage of GDP was 2.1%, on the high end of the average for the past 40 years, but still within the predictable range of what has been called the “stubborn 2%.”

Giving to education also increased, and represents 15% of total giving, surpassed only by giving to religion. Several key large gifts aided the surge in education giving, with large checks in support of capital campaigns and medical research.

All but three categories of American giving are at their highest levels ever, which is great news as we continue our post-recession recovery.

The Giving USA report is written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and is the report of record on American giving for the past 60 years. Your can purchase your copy of the Giving USA report at givingusa.org. It’s a great investment.

Stay tuned to the RuffaloNL fundraising blog to find out more about the results in the coming days.