What the Giving USA 2025 Report Means for Nonprofits
Spoiler: It’s not doom and gloom.
Each year, the Giving USA report gives us a 30,000-foot view of how Americans gave in the past year.
The 2025 edition, covering giving in 2024, came with a headline worth celebrating: Charitable giving grew to $592.5 billion in 2024, a 6.3 percent increase over 2023!
At The Philanthropy Place, we love a good data dive, but only if we can pull out real-world meaning that helps nonprofit leaders, like you, make smarter decisions. So here’s our no-fluff, fully-relevant breakdown of what you actually need to know.
Giving hit $592.5 billion in 2024, and here’s where it came from
Individuals: $392.45 billion (66 percent of all giving), up 8.2 percent over 2023
Corporations: $44.4 billion (7 percent of all giving), up 9.1 percent
Foundations: $109.81 billion (19 percent of all giving), up 2.4 percent
Bequests: $45.84 billion (8 percent of all giving), down 1.6 percent when adjusted for inflation
The takeaway: Individual donors are still your core audience. But corporate and foundation funding are proving more dynamic and responsive than expected. There’s real opportunity here if you’re ready to build those relationships!
This data strengthens the case for launching or expanding a Major Gifts program, especially one anchored in individual giving. With two-thirds of all dollars coming from individuals, now is the time to invest in personalized donor engagement strategies that deepen relationships and grow long-term support. At the same time, the rise in corporate and foundation giving suggests a curated portfolio approach, where major individual donors are your lead focus, with high-potential institutional funders layered in. A well-designed Major Gifts program is not just responsive to donor behavior, it is built for it.
Giving grew across almost every sector
Education: $88.32 billion, up 13.2 percent
Human Services: $91.15 billion, up 5.0 percent
Health: $60.51 billion, up 5.0 percent
Public-Society Benefit: $66.84 billion, up 19.5 percent
Arts & Culture: $25.13 billion, up 9.5 percent
Environment/Animals: $21.57 billion, up 7.7 percent
Religion: $146.54 billion, up 1.9 percent, down 1.0 percent when adjusted for inflation
The takeaway: Donors are investing in causes they feel emotionally and systemically connected to. It’s not just about urgency anymore. It’s about trust, transparency, and long-term impact.
A few sectors quietly outperformed…and they’re worth your attention
While some growth areas were expected (hello, Health and Education), a few sectors saw surprising increases that point to shifting donor priorities. Here’s where to pay attention:
Public-Society Benefit: Up 19.5%
This sector had the highest growth rate of any category, even outpacing Education, which means you should pay extra close attention to what this sector includes. It includes civil rights, advocacy, voter engagement, and donor-advised funds.
What this tells us: Donors aren’t just supporting services, they’re investing in systems. The spike here signals growing interest in structural change, policy influence, and long-term civic impact. This is the kind of giving that says, “We want to fix the root cause, not just treat the symptoms anymore.”
Arts, Culture, and Humanities: Up 9.5%
After being hit hard by COVID, many arts organizations saw multi-year revenue drops. But this year’s rebound shows renewed donor enthusiasm and a collective desire to reconnect with creativity, performance, and shared experience.
What this tells us: Storytelling matters. Arts & Culture matter. And donors are ready to fund and build on these areas that make communities vibrant and whole again.
Environment and Animals: Up 7.7%
This category has been quietly growing for years, but a nearly 8 percent jump, even amid inflation and market uncertainty, is worth noting.
What this tells us: Environmental issues are no longer “niche.” Donors, especially our younger generations of Millennials and Gen Z, are tying their values to sustainability. If your mission has any connection to community health, land use, climate resilience, or animal welfare, now is the time to draw those lines clearly in your case for support.
Digital giving and donor behavior are shifting fast
Let’s talk about digital behavior, because the way donors give is changing just as quickly as why they give. It's not enough to inspire generosity, you also have to make it ridiculously easy to act on.
From mobile giving to generational shifts in giving, the data is clear: if your donation experience isn’t intuitive, fast, optimized for phones, with easy access to sign-up for your monthly giving program, you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
Here's what the numbers are telling us:
Online giving now makes up more than 10 percent of all charitable contributions
More than 40 percent of donors say they have used their smartphone to give
Millennials giving increased 22 percent since 2021
Gen Z giving increased 16 percent in the same period (since 2021)
The takeaway: The ease of your online donation form matters. Your mobile giving experience matters. And yes, your email, text, and social strategies matter to younger generations. If you're still relying on mailings alone, it's time to expand your toolbox.
Donors expect a relationship, not just a receipt
Today’s donors want clarity, consistent communication, and to feel like they are part of building something with you, not just funding it.
What we’re seeing:
A rise in donor-advised funds (DAFs)
A desire for unrestricted giving and deeper transparency (cue trust-based philanthropy)
More donors are prioritizing long-term impact over short-term fundraising campaigns
Donors prefer more frequent and flexible engagement with the organization
The takeaway: This isn’t about sending one polished year-end annual report. It’s about year-round, monthly stewardship, relationship-building, and showing donors where their values meet your mission through better and consistent storytelling.
So what now?
Here’s what we’re encouraging our clients to do in response to the 2025 Giving USA findings:
Focus on relationship-building, not one-time transactional gifts
Make your online giving and mobile giving processes seamless
Segmentation of your donor audience is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s absolutely a need-to-have, with so many different generations involved in giving
Double down on impact storytelling, always supported with several data proof points
Build in flexibility to pivot your messaging and asks, as the nonprofit sector has already seen a lot of ebbs and flows in funding support in 2025
The bottom line
Giving is growing, but so are expectations from donors. The nonprofits that will truly thrive aren’t just the ones doing good work, they are the ones communicating their work and impact very clearly, engaging donors consistently each month, and making it easy for all generations and types of donors to give.
Need a partner to help translate these trends into a tailored fundraising strategy? That’s exactly what we do. Let’s chat!
