Charitable Giving Landscape in the US

By Andrew Yang

In 2023, charitable giving in the United States was $557 billion, which is a nominal record, although inflation dampened the sum’s real value. Individual households contributed roughly $374 billion, while foundations, bequests, and corporations made up the rest. The donor base continued to shrink; however, many remaining donors channeled larger sums through donor-advised funds, or DAFs, which now hold more than $250 billion. The concentration of funds in DAFS has led them to face congressional inspection, as Congress has passed the Accelerating Charitable Efforts Act, which would accelerate DAF payouts. Supporters of the ACE Act are pressing for a universal deduction that would stimulate middle-class donations, but there is a separate House bill proposes revoking tax-exempt status when charities are only just suspected of terrorist links. Thus, charitable funds increase but are increasingly politicized, making nonprofit leaders push for new strategies and diversify their current revenue streams away from simple individual donations. 

Additionally, digital tools are starting to reshape day-to-day operations within the nonprofit sector. Roughly two-thirds of organizations now use artificial intelligence to draft donor messages, analyze data, and run chatbots, which exceeds that of many private companies. However, that sudden embrace of AI has increased exposure to cybercrimes like phishing and ransomware. Incidents rose by more than 30 percent in 2024, which made small charities adopt MFA and 2FA, hire and outsource cybersecurity teams, and create regular cybersecurity drills.

On the other side, human resource pressures compound the digital threat. Ninety-five percent of chief executives report staff burnout, and half have persistent vacancies. To combat that,  flexible arrangements such as remote schedules, four-day workweeks, and wellness stipends aim to ease that strain, and an increase in volunteer labor fills in some gaps. Formal volunteering rose from 23 percent of adults in 2021 to 28 percent in 2023, adding about 75 million people, each of which are estimated to be worth around 35 dollars per hour. 

Finally, Financial headwinds are also hindering the nonprofit landscape. Nearly twenty small nonprofit colleges closed last year after enrollment declined and reserves thinned, and other boards were forced to merge, such as Childhaven’s union with Children’s Home Society to form Akin. 

In more positive news, however, mega gifts continue to massively increase budgets overnight: MacKenzie Scott’s 2024 distribution of 2 billion dollars across 199 organizations shows how large donations have both transformative power but major unpredictability. Her headline figures mask a deeper, more complex reality with concentrated resources, tightening regulation, rising cyber threats, and strained staffing capacity. Even so, there is still public trust, volunteer engagement, and sector adaptability that endure. 

Citations

Giving USA – Annual Report on Philanthropy https://givingusa.org

National Philanthropic Trust – Charitable Giving & Donor-Advised Fund Statistics https://www.nptrust.org/philanthropic-resources/charitable-giving-statistics/

Double the Donation – Nonprofit Fundraising & Recurring-Giving Statistics https://doublethedonation.com/nonprofit-fundraising-statistics/

Hub International – 2025 Nonprofit Outlook (cyber-risk, insurance, staffing) https://www.hubinternational.com/insights/outlook/2025/nonprofit/

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Quarterly Census of Nonprofits https://www.bls.gov/bdm/nonprofits/nonprofits.htm

Center for Effective Philanthropy – “State of Nonprofits 2024” burnout survey https://cep.org/state-of-nonprofits-2024

Independent Sector – “Trust in Nonprofits and Philanthropy 2024” report https://independentsector.org/resource/trust-in-civil-society-2024

AmeriCorps & U.S. Census Bureau – “Volunteering and Civic Life in America 2023” https://americorps.gov/about/volunteering-civic-life

IRS Proposed Regulations on Donor-Advised Funds (REG-142338-07, Nov 14 2023) https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/17/2023-25398/donor-advised-funds

Chronicle of Philanthropy / AP – Analysis of 2023 giving trends https://www.philanthropy.com/article/charitable-giving-declined-when-adjusted-for-inflation

BDO Insight – “Cybersecurity for Nonprofit Organizations 2024” https://www.bdo.com/insights/industries/nonprofit/cybersecurity-for-nonprofit-organizations

Nonprofit Quarterly – Coverage of mergers, closures, and policy issues https://nonprofitquarterly.org

Yield Giving (MacKenzie Scott) – Open-Call Grant Recipients & 2024 updates https://yieldgiving.com