• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 26, 2024

 Feeding America is the largest hunger-relief organization in the U.S.

Brands looking to team up with nonprofits, take heart: After a rocky 2022, charitable donations in the U.S. are showing signs of stability. Giving USA’s latest annual report is out, reporting that Americans handed out an estimated $557.16 billion to U.S. charities last year. While total giving amounted to a 1.9% increase in current dollars, donations declined by 2.1% when adjusted for inflation. The organization says that's a better performance than the 3.4% decline in 2022.

The report, an initiative of the Giving Institute, written and researched by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, notes that nonprofits are still gradually working through the disruptions caused by COVID-19.

“Americans increased their giving over the previous year despite the elevated cost of living and headlines warning of a possible recession in 2023,” says Josh Birkholz, chair of the Giving USA Foundation and CEO of BWF, the fundraising consulting firm, in the announcement. “We’re not yet back to the highs of pandemic-era giving, but there are some signs of stability.”

Donations last year were spurred by stock market growth, growth in personal income and higher consumer spending. And while each of the four sectors analyzed in the report -- individuals, bequests, foundations and corporations -- increased in current dollars, they either declined or remained flat after adjusting for inflation.

Gifts from individuals notched the steepest decline, falling 2.4% to $374.4 billion.

By category, gifts to religious organizations declined 1% to $145.81 billion; gifts to human services rose 1.7% to $88.84 billion; to education, up 6.7% to $87.69 billion; up 10.8% to $80.03 billion to foundations; and for public-society benefit, up 7.2% to $62.81 billion.

Gifting to health causes rose 4.4% to $56.58 billion; to international affairs groups, dropped 1.6% to $29.94 billion, and to arts, culture, and humanities, up 6.6% to $25.26 billion.

Donations to groups devoted to the environment and animals, the smallest of the categories the report tracks, rose 3.9% to $21.2 billion.