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Total charitable contributions from American individuals,
bequests, corporations and foundations were an estimated
$298.42
billion in 2011,
up from a revised estimate of $286.91 billion for 2010,
Giving USA Foundation™ and its research partner,
the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
The entire media kit, with key findings included, may be
downloaded by clicking
the link below
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Giving USA Foundation | 303 W. Madison St., Suite 2650,
Chicago, IL 60606 | 312/981-6794 |
www.givingusa.org
Key Findings
Total estimated
charitable giving in the United States increased 4.0 percent
in 2011 from 2010 to $298.42 billion in contributions (0.9
percent adjusted for inflation).
This increase reflects similar growth in giving by
individuals and a strong year for
giving by bequest.
Giving by individuals rose an estimated 3.9 percent in 2011
(an increase of0.8 percent adjusted for inflation) to
$217.79 billion in contributions.
The willingness of individuals to give to charity is
associated with their financial
circumstances. While most individuals continue to give in
hard economic
times, many will decrease their giving and some will stop
giving altogether.
Various economic indicators point to the increased
confidence that individuals
had in their financial future in 2011, providing explanation
for the
boost in giving by individuals.
Giving by bequest increased an estimated 12.2 percent
(an 8.8 percent increase adjusted for inflation) to $24.41
billion in 2011.
The share of giving by bequest from itemizing estates was 85
percent of the total.
Giving by foundations increased 1.8 percent to an estimated
$41.67 billion in
2011, according to figures provided by the Foundation
Center. However,
adjusted for inflation, giving by foundations declined 1.3
percent in 2011.
Giving by corporations is estimated to have held steady in
2011 compared
with 2010, totaling $14.55 billion (a 0.1 percent decline in
current dollars,
or a decline of 3.1 percent adjusted for inflation). This
estimate includes
giving by corporations and corporate foundations.
Giving to religion decreased an estimated 1.7 percent from
2010, totaling
$95.88 billion in 2011. Inflation-adjusted giving to the
religion subsector is
estimated to have declined 4.7 percent from 2010. Reports
from various
research institutions analyzing giving to religious
organizations reveal
downward trends in giving, particularly among certain
Christian
denominations. 3.9% 12.2% 1.8% 1.7%
Giving to education is estimated to have increased 4.0
percent between
2010 and 2011 to $38.87 billion in contributions. Adjusted
for inflation,
giving to educational organizations was flat at a 0.9
percent increase.
Contributing to this increase was strong growth in giving to
higher
educational institutions in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Giving to foundations is estimated to have declined by 6.1
percent in 2011
to $25.83 billion in contributions. Adjusted for inflation,
giving to foundations
is estimated to have declined by 8.9 percent.
Giving to human services rose an estimated 2.5 percent in
2011 compared
with 2010, totaling $35.39 billion. Adjusted for inflation,
giving to human
services organizations is estimated to have held flat
between 2010 and 2011
(a -0.6 percent change). Nevertheless, inflation-adjusted
giving to these
organizations is the third-highest amount ever recorded
(behind 2008 and 2010).
Giving to health organizations is estimated to have
increased 2.7 percent in
2011 from 2010 (-0.4 percent adjusted for inflation), with
$24.75 billion in
total contributions.
The 2011 Million Dollar List reports an 80 percent
increase in the amount of announced million-dollar-and-up
gifts given by
individuals to the health subsector in 2011 compared with
2010.3
Giving to public-society benefit organizations increased by
an estimated 4.0
percent in 2011 to $21.37 billion from 2010. Adjusted for
inflation, giving
to public-society benefit organizations held flat at 0.9
percent growth
between 2010 and 2011.
Free-standing donor-advised funds are included in
the estimate for this subsector. The three largest
donor-advised fund
administrators—Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Schwab
Charitable Fund,
and Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program—realized average
growth
in received contributions of 77 percent between 2010 and
2011.4
4.0% 2.7% 2.5% 6.1% 4.0%
Giving to arts, culture, and humanities is estimated to have
increased 4.1
percent in 2011 from 2010, with $13.12 billion in total
contributions.
Adjusted for inflation, giving to the arts, culture, and
humanities subsector
is estimated to have increased 1.0 percent. Bolstering
giving to the arts subsector
was an $800 million cash gift to Crystal Bridges Museum of
American Art in Arkansas from the Walton Family Foundation.
This was
the largest cash donation ever recorded to an art museum
in the United States.
Giving to international affairs is estimated to be $22.68
billion in 2011, an
increase of 7.6 percent from 2010. Adjusted for inflation,
giving to international
affairs organizations is estimated to have risen 4.4 percent
in 2011
from 2010. Donations to the international affairs subsector
amounted to 8
percent of all donations across the subsectors in 2011,
three percentage
points higher than reported in Giving USA 2011.
Giving to environmental and animal organizations is
estimated to have
increased 4.6 percent from 2010 to $7.81 billion in total
contributions.
Adjusted for inflation, donations to the environment/animals
subsector are
estimated to have increased 1.4 percent from 2010.
Million-dollar-and-up
gifts to support continued clean-up efforts for the 2010 oil
spill in the Gulf
of Mexico boosted giving to this subsector in 2011.
Giving to individuals is estimated to have increased 9.0
percent from 2010
to $3.75 billion. The bulk of these donations are in-kind
gifts of
medications to patients in need made through the Patient
Assistance
Programs (PAP) of pharmaceutical companies’ operating
foundations.
Unallocated giving totaled $8.97 billion in 2011. This
amount includes
itemized deductions by individuals (and households) carried
over from
previous years, which is the difference in the tax year in
which a gift is
claimed by the donor (carried over) and the year when the
recipient
organization reports it as revenue (the year in which it is
received).
Unallocated giving also includes gifts to government
entities, which do
not report charitable contributions at the national level;
gifts made to
entities in other countries by foundations; and gifts made
to new organizations
that have not yet been classified. In addition, when a donor
forms
a charitable trust and takes a deduction, but does not tell
the recipient organization,
there is an unallocated amount. 9.0% 4.6% 7.6% 4.1%
Key findings GIVING USA 2012
1 Foundation Center, Foundation Growth and
Giving Estimates: Current Outlook, 2012
Edition, May 2012,
www.foundationcenter.org.
2 “2012 Voluntary Support for Education Survey
(VSE),” Council for Aid to Education, 2012,
www.cae.org .
3 The 2011 Million Dollar List, accessed March
2012,
www.milliondollarlist.org . The Million
Dollar List, because it is based on media
reports, is not a scientific sample of gifts, nor
does it include all gifts of $1 million or more. It
is estimated that the gifts on the Million Dollar
List represent one-quarter of all donations
of $1 million or more.
4 “Fidelity Charitable Reports Record-Breaking
Year in Both Grants to Nonprofits and New
Charitable Contributions,” January 24, 2012,
www.fidelitycharitable.org: “Schwab Charitable
Sees Increased Level of Giving and Granting,”
December 14, 2011,
www.fidelitycharitable.org :
“Vanguard Charitable Reports Record
Contributions and Rise in Corporate and
Private Foundation Participation for Calendar
Year 2011,” January 25, 2012,
www.vanguardcharitable.org
.
5 Same as note2
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