Giving Statistics
Few people realize how large charities have become, how many vital services they provide, and how much funding flows through them each year. Without charities and non-profits, America would simply not be able to operate. Their operations are so big that during 2008, in the midst of a recession, total giving was still more than $300 billion.
How big is the sector?
- Total giving to charitable organizations was $307.65 billion in 2008 (about 2% of GDP). This is a decrease of 2% from 2007.
- As in previous years, the majority of that giving came from individuals--$229.3 billion (75%). Giving by individuals dropped by 2.7%.
- Giving by bequest was $22.7 billion (down 2.8%), foundations gave $41.2 billion (up 3%), and corporations donated $14.5 billion (down 4.5%).
- Religious organizations received the most support--$106.9 billion (up 5.5%). Much of these contributions can be attributed to people giving to their local place of worship. The next largest sector was education with $40.9 billion (5.5% decrease).
- Here's how the other categories of charities performed: giving to public benefit charities increased 5.4% ($23.9 billion), gifts to international charities grew 0.6% ($13.3 billion), donations to human services charities decreased 12.7% ($25.9 billion), giving to health charities decreased 6.5% ($21.6 billion), giving to arts, culture and humanities organizations decreased 5.5% ($12.8 billion), and giving to animal and environment charities charities decreased by 5.5% ($6.6 billion).
All data property of Giving USA 2008, the Annual Report on Philanthropy, published by the AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy. A more detailed synopsis of the report is accessible on Charity Navigator's blog.
