Giving declines after record-setting years

Story at a glance

• In the U.S., charitable giving fell by 3.4 percent between 2022 and 2021.

• Giving USA analysts attribute the drop to uncertain economic times and the end of the pandemic.

• “Mega-giving” from six individuals and couples totaled $13.96 billion.

Americans donated to charities at a lower rate in 2022 than they did the previous year – marking a relatively rare occurrence that has only happened three other times in the last 40 years.

According to key insights published Wednesday in Giving USA’s annual philanthropy report, charitable giving in 2022 fell to a total of $499.3 billion, in current dollars. That’s a decline by 3.4 percent, or 10.5 percent when adjusted for inflation.

The report described the decrease as “a relatively rare occurrence usually seen during years with difficult or unusual economic conditions.” The report attributed the decline in giving to the high inflation rate and the volatility of the stock market. The report also indicated that the high levels of giving in 2020 and 2021 were largely driven by pandemic needs as well as efforts to support racial justice.

Giving USA Foundation Chair Josh Birkholz said the results in the report are not entirely bad, considering the economic conditions, saying in an interview with The Associated Press, “I go back and forth on whether it’s encouraging or discouraging.”

“Drops in the stock market and high inflation caused many households to make tough decisions about their charitable giving for the year,” Birkholz said in the press release. “But despite uncertain economic times, Americans demonstrated how essential they view the nonprofit sector and its ability to solve big problems—by still giving nearly half a trillion dollars in 2022.”

Measured in current dollars, charitable giving increased in 2022 in three out of the four categories, even though, adjusted for inflation, all four categories decreased.

Individual giving declines by 6.4 percent in current dollars, while giving by foundations increased by 2.5 percent, giving by bequests increased by 2.3 percent, and giving by corporations increased by 3.4 percent. All decreased when adjusted for inflation.

The report indicated that for the second year in a row, large donations by some of the wealthiest individuals represented nearly 5 percent of individual giving. “Mega-giving” from six individuals and couples totaled $13.96 billion, according to the report.

Una Osili, the associate dean for research and international programs at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy said that despite some volatile economic conditions, “there were some bright spots in the economy thanks to a strong labor market and 9 percent growth in GDP.”

“The economic picture that emerges suggests that many households were stable—we did not see job losses or an increase in unemployment the way we did in the Great Recession,” Osili said in the report.

“However, households tend to give when they are financially and economically secure–and the inflationary pressures meant that fewer households had extra to give. In addition, donors may not have been as compelled to respond to immediate needs as they had been during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic or during the Great Recession,” Osili added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.