An annual report from Giving USA was recently released, referring to growth of almost 4% that led to a new high of $390.05 billion in 2016. Giving USA 2017: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2016 provides details on charitable giving by individuals, estates, foundations and corporations in the United States. The 2017 report showed an increase of 2.7% over the revised estimate for 2015.
“This report tells us that Americans remained generous in 2016, despite it being a year punctuated by economic and political uncertainty,” said Aggie Sweeney, CFRE, chair of Giving USA Foundation and senior counsel at Campbell & Company. “We saw growth in every major sector, indicating the resilience of philanthropy and diverse motivations of donors.”
The sectors of giving include religion, health, public-society benefit, human services, education, gifts to foundations, arts culture and humanities, environment and animals, and international affairs.
It may be interesting to note that while individuals, corporations and foundations increased their giving in 2016, contributions from estates decreased significantly. Individual giving increased almost 4% in 2016, bringing a significant positive impact on the overall growth in charitable gifts.
Click here for more details about the Giving USA report. And see below for a visual infographic that depicts key information from the report:
Giving USA is a comprehensive annual report that is published by the Giving USA Foundation and written by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.