U.S. Charitable Giving Tops $600 Billion for the First Time: Inheritances and Stock Market Gains
Donors gave an estimated $617.2 billion to U.S. charities last year, up 5.7% from the prior year, as the stock market rebounded strongly. According to the Giving USA report released this week, it was the first time annual giving has topped $600 billion in the report’s 60-year history. After adjusting for inflation, giving rose 3% year over year.
By category, individual donations still made up the largest share at an estimated $394.2 billion, but after inflation they rose only 1.4%. Charitable bequests, or gifts made through estates, surged to an estimated $62.19 billion, up 16.6%.
The rise in bequests may be the latest sign of a major wealth transfer. Cerulli Associates estimates that more than $124 trillion in assets will pass from one generation to the next by 2048, with about $18 trillion directed to charitable purposes.
Lead analyst Jon Bergdoll said it is still hard to tell how much of the increase in bequests comes from the wealth transfer itself. What is clearer, he said, is that wealthy Americans most likely to leave large charitable gifts are also the biggest beneficiaries of the stock market rally.
Bergdoll said, “The link between bequests and overall net worth is pretty tight, and net worth is tied to market performance.”
Stock market effects on overall giving are slower and more muted
The report said the market’s effect on overall giving, including foundation and corporate donations, tends to be slower and less visible. Bergdoll expected a stronger increase in giving given the strong market growth in recent years. The report showed that from 2024 to 2025, the inflation-adjusted S&P 500 rose 13.4%, while total giving grew by only about a quarter of that pace.
He attributed part of the gap between “paper wealth” and actual total giving to weaker GDP growth and consumer confidence near historic lows.
Bergdoll said, “This is a relatively unusual economic environment. Even though the market is doing well and GDP is okay, there seems to be a fair amount of unease. We know people often give from a sense of financial security, and that may be weighing on giving at the individual level.”
He added that if charitable giving tracks the stock market too closely, that would be bad for the nonprofit sector. He said he does not want a one-to-one relationship where the market rises 20% and giving rises 20%, and of course he would not want giving to fall 20% when the market falls 20%.
Changes in tax incentives and dependence on the ultra-wealthy
The report also said many high-income donors are expected to give early in 2025 to take advantage of tax benefits that are likely to decline. Bergdoll said the increase is notable, but still limited relative to the overall size of giving. The report estimates donors may give an extra $1.71 billion in 2025 to maximize expiring tax incentives.
Although U.S. charities are receiving more money, they are increasingly dependent on ultra-high-net-worth donors. The report estimates that a pressure-cooker economic environment has squeezed middle-class giving capacity. Last year, nine donors accounted for a massive $22.32 billion share of total charitable giving. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, contributed the largest share at $6.65 billion.
These megadonations, which account for at least 0.1% of total giving, can reshape the philanthropic landscape from year to year. Nearly one-third of the increase in bequests came from the estate of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, which set aside $3.1 billion for science and technology research.
Views on megadonations: benefits and uncertainty
Gabe Cooper, vice chair of the Giving USA Foundation, said in an interview that his feelings are mixed. On the one hand, he wants more billionaires to put wealth into philanthropy: “I want people like Paul Allen and MacKenzie Scott to give money away. Of course I want to see more billionaires do that.”
On the other hand, he does not want those numbers to grow too quickly, because charities’ reliance on the ultra-wealthy can increase year-to-year volatility. If giving patterns become more tied to wealth cycles, he said, the stability of charitable funding will be harder to predict.
Cooper also looked to heirs: “If a billionaire dies and gives $200 million to charity, the other $800 million will likely go to the kids, so I’d rather see the kids make better choices when it comes to charitable decisions.”
