2007 Statistics about Charitable Giving

• Giving USA, the yearbook of philanthropy, estimates Americans gave total contributions of $260.28 billion for 2005, growth of 6.1 percent

• Charitable giving accounted for 2.1% of gross domestic product (Giving USA 2006)

• About half of the $15 billion increase in total giving from the revised estimate of $245.22 billion in 2004 is attributable to disaster relief giving. (Giving USA 2006 report)

• Individual giving is always the largest single source of donations. It rose by 6.4 percent. (2.9 percent adjusted for inflation) to an estimated $199.07 billion. It accounts for 76.5 percent of all estimated giving in 2005. (Giving USA 2006)

• There are approximately 1,010,400 charitable organizations in the US (National Philanthropic Trust, June 2007)

• Foundations gave $2.2 billion of the $95.2 billion in private assistance from the US in 2005 (Index of Global Philanthropy)

• The year 2005 saw the highest percentage of charitable organizations reporting growth since 2000 (Giving USA 2006)

• Donor advised funds are the fastest growing charitable giving vehicle (National Philanthropic Trust, June 2007)

• Of the companies that gave in 2004, 77% reported giving in more in 2005 (CECP, Giving in Numbers 2006)

• Foundation grantmaking, which is reported by the Foundation Center, rose 5.6 percent (2.1 percent adjusted for inflation) to $30 billion (Giving USA 2006)

• Foundation grants: 55% went to health programs, 16.5% went to development projects and relief efforts, and 8% to environmental protection (Center for Global Prosperity/Foundation Center)

• Foundation giving is 11.5 percent of total estimated charitable giving in 2005 (Giving USA 2006)

• Between 2002 and 2004, cross-border giving decreased 3%, while grants to U.S.-based charities increased 49% (Foundation Center)

• In 2004, the top 25 US foundations giving internationally gave $758.5 million

• In 2004, 670 foundations gave international grants, up from 636 in 2002

• Community foundations have increased by 26% in Latin America, Africa, and Asia

• The most popular causes Americans give to: 1. Religious/Faith-based (US$ 88.3 billion), 2. Education (US$ 33.8 billion), 3. Health (US$ 22.0 billion), 4. Human Services (US$ 19.2 billion), 5. Arts, Culture and Humanities (US$ 14.0 billion)