On June 25, Giving USA, a public service initiative of The Giving Institute, released its annual report on trends in philanthropic contributions for the year 2023. While overall giving in real dollars increased by 1.9% over 2022, it didn’t outpace 4% inflation. So, when adjusted for inflation, total giving dipped, slightly, by 2.1%.
Total giving for 2023 was $557.16 billion.
Executive search firm The Yunker Group and grant-seeking firm Grants Plus hosted a briefing at The Metropolitan Club to deliver the results, with in-depth analysis by Melissa S. Brown, a former Giving USA editor and faculty member of Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and now an independent fundraising consultant.
Below are the 2023 numbers:
Contributions ranked by source – where the money came from…
| Source | $$ in billions | % of total | Compared to 2022 |
| Individuals | $374.40 | 67% | ^ 1.6% |
| Foundations | $103.53 | 19% | ^ 1.7% |
| Bequest | $42.68 | 8% | ^ 4.8% |
| Corporations | $36.55 | 7% | ^ 3.0% |
Contributions ranked by destination – where the money went…
| Destination | $$ in billions | % of total * | Compared to 2022 |
| Religion | $145.81 | 24% | ^ 3.1% |
| Human Services | $88.84 | 14% | ^ 5.8% |
| Education | $87.69 | 14% | ^ 11.1% |
| Foundations | $80.03 | 13% | ^ 15.4% |
| Public-Society Benefit | $62.81 | 10% | ^ 11.6% |
| Health | $56.58 | 9% | ^ 8.7% |
| International Affairs | $29.94 | 5% | ^ 2.5% |
| Arts/Culture/Humanities | $25.26 | 4% | ^ 11.0% |
| Environment/Animals | $21.20 | 3% | ^ 8.2% |
| Individuals | $20.66 | 3% | v 17.2% |
Five of the nine destination sub-sectors reached their all time high in 2023, even when adjusted for inflation: human services, education, health, arts/culture/humanities and environment/animals.
Religion, while increasing slightly in real dollars, continued to decline in percentage from its high of 56.4% in 1980.
The Giving USA Foundation, The Giving Institute, and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy partner annually to provide what is said to be the most comprehensive, longest-running, and most rigorously researched resource on charitable giving in the United States – Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy.
Event sponsors: The Metropolitan Club, Taft, Driehaus Insurance Group, Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Clark Schaefer Hackett, SHP Architecture, Better Business Bureau, Horizon Community Funds, Fifth Third Foundation and Leadership Council for Nonprofits. Movers & Makers served as media sponsor.
Order the full report: https://store.givingusa.org
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