The holiday season is a time of giving … and Americans are known for their philanthropy.
In 2022, Americans gave more than $499 billion to charitable causes.i
And while corporations and foundations do plenty of giving … the lion’s share of American charity comes from individuals.ii
In 2022, nearly 2/3 of the country’s charitable giving came via individual donations.
Which causes do Americans give the most money to?
Americans gave $51 billion to health-related charities, ranking #5.
$57 billion went to charitable foundations, landing them at #4.
Educational organizations come in at #3, with $70 billion in charitable gifts.
Human services charities — organizations like food banks or homeless shelters — received $72 billion. And while $72 billion is a lot of money … the charitable sector that received the most money literally doubled that amount.
Americans gave $144 billion to religious organizations, the leading recipient of charitable funds.
There was one piece of bad news amidst all this generosity.
In 2022, Americans’ charitable giving went down by over 10% in inflation-adjusted termsiii marking only the fourth time in 40 years that donations to charity had actually declined.
Analysts blamed drops in the stock market and high rates of inflation.
Fortunately, America still remains the most charitable nation in the world.iv
One more reason to give thanks — and give freely — during this holiday season.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- America is the most charitable nation in the world.
- In 2022, nearly 2/3 of the country’s charitable donations came from individual donors.
- Religious groups received the largest total donations ($144 billion), double the next highest recipient.
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