Key Takeaways For Foundations From Giving USA’s 2024 Report on Philanthropy

When the new Giving USA 2024 Report on philanthropy was recently released, our email inboxes became even more abuzz with activity. Because if there’s something we really love to do here at Foundation Source, it’s analyzing, discussing and comparing giving trends—whether from a sample of our private foundation clients or from trusted third parties.

While these findings serve as an estimate rather than a precise tally of charitable giving, they can provide a valuable benchmark for private foundations, their professional teams and the entire philanthropic sector, helping us all to evaluate effectiveness and recalibrate for maximum impact. So, grab your 2025 bingo card and let’s get a glimpse into where giving may be going by looking at the key findings in this latest report. What follows is an overview of U.S. giving trends in 2023 by donor and recipient type, total amounts given and received and the rates of change in giving from 2022. To learn more read the full report .

Total Giving

Total estimated charitable giving in the United States reached just over $557 billion. What’s more, total giving grew by 1.9 percent between 2022 and 2023 in current dollars, but declined 2.1 percent when adjusted for inflation.

Giving by individuals totaled just over an estimated $374 billion, growing 1.6 percent in 2023. This is a decline of 2.4 percent when adjusted for inflation.

Foundation Giving

Charitable giving by foundations also grew—in this case by 1.7 percent, reaching an estimated total of just over $103 billion in 2023. When adjusted for inflation, this represented a decline of 2.3 percent.

Giving by foundations includes grants made by independent, community and operating foundations, and amounted to 19 percent of all gifts made in 2023. (Giving by individuals represented the largest contribution by source at 67 percent.)

Current-dollar grantmaking by foundations increased 14.5 percent between 2021 and 2022. The cumulative change in current-dollar giving by foundations between 2021 and 2023 is 16.4 percent. In our 2023 Report on Private Philanthropy, we had similar findings of increased giving by foundations. Collectively, the 980 foundations in our study made a total of 31,373 grants in 2022 representing $865 million in charitable aid. This is a 7.1% increase in grants and 14.7% increase in dollars granted over the prior year. Foundations also gave more than the minimum required distribution of 5% as they had in prior years with an average of 6.6% in assets in 2022.

Who Received The Most Contributions?

Religious organizations received the largest share of charitable dollars in 2023, at 24 percent of total giving. Human services organizations made up the second-largest portion in total gifts received at 14 percent of the total in 2023.

Interestingly as reported in our 2023 study , the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) category capturing the most funding from foundations in 2022 was public/societal benefit at 19.5 percent of all grant dollars. Education was the second-largest category at 18.1 percent and human services rounded out the top three at 12.9 percent for the same timeframe.

What’s Ahead For Giving?

While giving may not have been able to keep up (or outpace) the higher-than-average inflation rate of 4.1 percent, the future looks bright for giving. The growth in 2023’s total giving may indicate positive signs throughout the sector—and we’ll be here doing our part to serve and support philanthropists and their professional teams.

Want More Insights On Giving Trends?

Check out our infographic on What’s Next For Funders? where we asked our private foundation clients how they plan to approach their philanthropy this year.

Want to learn more about the ways we support philanthropists with private foundations?

Schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.