U.S. charitable giving tops $600 billion for first time, fueled by big gifts and bequests

U.S. donations to charities were estimated at $617.2 billion last year, up 5.7% from the year before, according to the Giving USA report. The increase came against the backdrop of a strong stock market rebound.

The result marks the first time in the 60-year history of the annual philanthropy report that giving has topped $600 billion. After adjusting for inflation, donations rose 3% year over year.

But the stock market rally had a much bigger effect on donors with more money to give. Individual giving still accounted for the largest share at $394.2 billion, but it rose only 1.4% after inflation. By contrast, charitable bequests — gifts made after death — are expected to jump 16.6% to $62.19 billion.

The rise in bequests may be the latest signal of the “great wealth transfer.” Cerulli Associates estimates that more than $124 trillion in assets will pass between generations by 2048, with about $18 trillion set aside for charity.

Jon Bergdoll, the report’s lead analyst, said it is still too early to tell how much of the increase in bequests is directly tied to the massive transfer of wealth.

The clearer point is that among affluent Americans most likely to leave large sums to charity, the biggest beneficiaries of the market rally were also the biggest group. Bergdoll said bequests are closely tied to overall net worth, which in turn is linked to market performance.

Overall giving, which includes foundation and corporate donations, tends to react to the stock market more slowly and more mildly. Bergdoll said that given the strong market gains over the past few years, donations should have risen more. The report showed that from 2024 to 2025, the S&P 500’s inflation-adjusted gain was 13.4%, about four times the growth rate of total giving.

He said the gap between paper wealth and actual giving partly reflects weak GDP growth and consumer confidence at historic lows.

Bergdoll also said stock market growth in this economic environment feels “a little strange.” He stressed that donations come from a sense of financial security; when people feel uneasy, individual giving can slow.

At the same time, Bergdoll worried that if charitable giving moves too closely with the stock market, it could hurt the nonprofit sector. He hopes giving growth will not be tied one-for-one to market rises and falls. When the market goes up, giving should ideally rise, but it should not fall by the same amount when the market declines.

Bequests rise as wealth passes on: more likely from the ultra-wealthy

Many high earners were expected to pull forward donations in 2025 to take advantage of tax breaks. Because policy tied to a “major bill” will reduce those tax benefits, Bergdoll said there has been a notable but still relatively small increase versus the total scale of giving. The report estimated that in 2025, donors contributed an extra $1.71 billion to make the most of soon-to-expire tax incentives.

Although charities are receiving more money, they are increasingly dependent on ultra-wealthy donors. With economic pressure squeezing the middle class, ordinary donors face greater challenges. The report estimated that last year just nine donors accounted for a combined $22.32 billion in philanthropy, with MacKenzie Scott contributing the largest share at $6.65 billion.

These “megadonors” — defined as those contributing at least 0.1% of total giving — can reshape philanthropy from year to year. Nearly a third of the increase in bequests came from the estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The estate established a $3.1 billion fund for science and technology research.

Gabe Cooper, vice chairman of the Giving USA Foundation, said views on megadonors are mixed. On one hand, he wants more billionaires like Paul Allen and MacKenzie Scott to give away their wealth; on the other, he does not want the figures to grow too large because reliance on mega-wealth donors can increase year-to-year volatility.

Cooper also said he is more focused on the bigger issue: heirs. If a billionaire dies and leaves $200 million to charity, the remaining $800 million will likely go to children, so he hopes heirs make better decisions about philanthropy.