Key Findings from Giving USA 2014 Report

Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy is the longest running annual report on U.S. charitable giving and estimates sources of giving and amounts received by type of organization. Giving USA is published by the Giving USA Foundation and their report on 2013 giving trends is now available.

Established in 1956 by the American Association of Fundraising Counsel, now The Giving Institute is made possible by contributions from The Giving Institute member firms, foundations, and other donors. Giving USA is researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Here are a few key trends reflected in the annual report:

Overall Giving Trends

• Giving by American individuals, estates, corporations, and foundations grew by 4.4% in 2013.
• The total donated to charitable causes in 2013 was estimated to be estimated $335.17 billion.
• Individual giving accounted for 72% of all charitable giving in 2013.
• This is the fourth consecutive year of increases in giving, a period of growth that began in 2010.

Sector Giving Trends

• Giving to Religious organizations was flat on a year over year basis while giving to Education was up 9%. 
• Giving to Human Services was up just 2.2% and the Health sector was up 6% compared to 2012 giving.
• Foundations saw a 15.5% decrease in giving in 2013.

Individual Giving

• Giving by individuals was up 4.2% in 2013. Several factors influenced this growth including a 2.9% in personal income, a lower unemployment rate, a 1.9% increase in personal disposable income, and rising consumer confidence.
• A 2% increase in GDP and 27.8% increase in the S&P 500 also helped drive more giving in 2013. Research has found a statistically significant correlation between changes in total giving and values on the S&P 500.

Giving Trends in 2014

• Earlier this year, the Blackbaud Charitable Giving Report estimated that overall giving in 2013 was up 4.9%. This once again aligns closely with Giving USA’s findings. The Blackbaud Index reports on overall and online giving trends on a monthly basis.

To get the complete Giving USA 2014 report please visit: www.givingusareports.org

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve MacLaughlin

Steve MacLaughlin is the Vice President of Data & Analytics at Blackbaud and bestselling author of Data Driven Nonprofits.

MacLaughlin has been featured as a fundraising and nonprofit expert in many mainstream publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, USA Today, The NonProfit Times, Bloomberg, and has appeared on NPR.

He is a frequent speaker at events including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), American Marketing Association (AMA), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association (DMFA), Giving Institute Summer Symposium, National Association of Independent School (NAIS), Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), Institute of Fundraising National Convention, Civil Society Conference, Resource Alliance’s Fundraising Online, and a keynote speaker at such events as the Crescendo Practical Planned Giving Conference.

Steve serves on the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) Board of Directors and supports its focus on both the growth and professionalism of the nonprofit technology field as well as building knowledge and information sharing capacity throughout the sector.

He is a frequent blogger, published author of a chapter in the book People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities, and is a co-editor of the book Internet Management for Nonprofits: Strategies, Tools & Trade Secrets. His latest book, Data Driven Nonprofits, became a bestseller in 2016.

Steve earned both his undergraduate degree and a Master of Science degree in Interactive Media from Indiana University.