Each year, Giving USA releases its annual Report on Philanthropy for 2016. This report is one of the most respected yearly updates on trends and stats in the philanthropic realm in the U.S. We are constantly amazed by the momentum and forward movement within this space.
Here are some of the report highlights:
- In 2016, charitable giving totaled $390.05 billion in the U.S.
- 2016 saw an estimated 2.7 percent increase in charitable giving over 2015, a 3.9 percent increase by individuals, 3.5 percent increase by foundations, 3.5 percent increase by corporations and 9 percent decline by bequest.
- In the past ten years, total giving in the U.S. has increased by $93.96 billion
- Individual giving totaled 72 percent of the total giving, foundations totaled 15 percent of the total giving, bequests totaled 8 percent of total giving and corporations totaled 5 percent of total giving in 2016.
- In 2016, per capita giving in the U.S. was $1,155
According to NonProfit Pro, “Giving to religion remains the top sub-sector. While this category of giving is not getting big dollars, it’s getting a lot of dollars.”
However, the education sub-sector is not far behind. Giving to education is continuously growing and this is the seventh consecutive year that the sector has seen an increase in giving. And while the education sub-sector hasn’t seen the most gifts, like the religion sub-sector, it continues to receive the most major gifts. This can be attributed to universities, colleges and schools asking for bigger gifts than religious institutions.
We are excited to see more results and commentary coming out of the 2016 report, as well as look forward to everything that the rest of 2017 has to offer the philanthropic world!
Want to see highlights of the report? Check out the article on NonProfit Pro. You can also visit Giving USA’s website to purchase the full report.