Posted on June 19, 2006

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Charitable Giving Topped $260 Billion in 2005, Report Finds

Estimated charitable giving reached $260.28 billion in 2005, an increase of 6.1 percent before inflation, a new report from the Giving USA Foundation finds.

According to Giving USA 2006, individual giving rose 6.4 percent in 2005 to $199.07 billion, accounting for 76.5 percent of all giving. Foundation grantmaking rose 5.6 percent to $30 billion, which the New York City-based Foundation Center attributed to the growing number of foundations and the solid performance of the stock market. And corporate giving, driven in part by disaster relief, grew an unprecedented 22.5 percent to $13.77 billion, or 5.3 percent of the overall total.

Nearly half of the $15 billion increase in total giving from last year's revised estimate was due to the charitable response following the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which generated a combined $7.37 billion in contributions, or 2.8 percent of total estimated giving in 2005. Of that amount, individuals contributed $5.83 billion, or 79 percent of the estimated total in disaster relief contributions for 2005, while corporations gave $1.38 billion (19 percent). The balance of the giving — an estimated $160 million (2 percent) based on Foundation Center data — was awarded by foundations.

Among recipient organizations overall, several sub-sectors posted double-digit growth before inflation, including education, environment and animals, and international affairs — although the latter would have shown a decline without the addition of disaster relief giving — while arts and culture and health experienced inflation-adjusted declines in giving.

According to Eugene Tempel, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, which researched and wrote the report, 59 percent of organizations reported an increase in charitable receipts, before adding contributions for disaster relief. "The year 2005 saw the highest percentage of charitable organizations reporting growth since 2000 and the lowest percentage of charities reporting a drop in giving," he added.

“Charitable Giving Rises 6 Percent to More Than $260 Billion Study Finds.” Giving USA Foundation Press Release 6/19/06.

Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Location(s): National, United States

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