Philanthropy in the United States is in a moment of quiet momentum. After a turbulent few years — pandemic surges, inflation shocks, and shifting tax rules — Americans returned to giving in force in 2024, producing a mix of record totals, new patterns in how gifts are held and distributed, and growing attention to local, community-led approaches. This feature looks at the data, the drivers, and the people reshaping charitable giving today — with on-the-record voices from leaders across the sector.
A Strong Year, But Not All Good News Is The Same
Giving USA’s 2025 report found total U.S. charitable giving reached an estimated $592.50 billion in 2024 — a 6.3% rise in current dollars and a 3.3% increase after adjusting for inflation. Individuals continued to be the backbone of this generosity, accounting for roughly two-thirds of all giving ($392.45 billion). Corporations and foundations also posted gains, and several subsectors — education, health, and environment among them — recorded notable increases.
“Total giving in 2024 reached record levels in current dollars and grew at a rate consistent with long-term trends — clear evidence of Americans’ enduring generosity,” said Wendy McGrady, Chair of the Giving USA Foundation. Her observation captures the paradox of the moment: strong aggregate numbers mask important structural shifts in how gifts are made and deployed.
Donor-Advised Funds: Convenience, Scale, And Scrutiny
One of the most consequential shifts for the sector has been the dramatic growth of donor-advised funds (DAFs). Recent annual DAF research shows the total number of DAF accounts rising to record highs, with charitable assets concentrated in a few large sponsor organizations and donation processors. In 2024 DAF assets swelled substantially, with contributions and account openings rebounding after uneven prior years. That growth has made DAFs an increasingly important pipeline of capital — and a focal point for policy and practice debates.
Industry leaders praise DAFs for lowering barriers to philanthropy and enabling more people to give, but critics point to the fact that money can sit in DAFs indefinitely before being paid out — raising questions about timeliness and public benefit. The nuanced picture: DAFs are both democratizing (simpler, faster giving) and concentrating (more assets controlled by fewer intermediaries).
Localism and Community Foundations: Giving Gets Neighborhood-Smart
Another clear trend is the rise of community-centered giving. Funders and donors are directing more attention and resources to local needs — often through community foundations, place-based funds, and neighborhood partnerships. This movement is partly a response to donors’ desire for measurable local impact and partly a recognition that many solutions require long-term, place-based investment rather than rapid one-off grants. Reports and conference themes from community foundation networks underscore this shift toward resilience, local leadership and participatory grantmaking.
Philanthropy in a Tough Political Moment
The nonprofit sector is navigating a politically fraught landscape — from funding cut proposals to state-level restrictions on organizations focused on equity and immigrant services. Foundation leaders are responding in different ways: some doubling down on flexible, unrestricted support; others taking explicit advocacy positions. As Kathleen Enright, president and CEO of the Council on Foundations, put it in a 2025 sector roundtable, “I expect charitable foundations to do what they were made for: give more when times are tough.” That remark captures a widely held expectation that philanthropic capital should counterbalance public and private turbulence rather than retreat from it.
Speed, Trust, And New Donor Expectations
Major donors and grantmakers are also changing their playbook. There’s ga rowing appetite for fast, flexible grants that respond to crises and emerging needs — donors want to move quickly and with fewer strings attached. Simultaneously, nonprofits are hungry for predictability and multi-year support to sustain long-term programs. Those dual pressures are changing how grant agreements are negotiated and how organizations plan. Opinion and prediction pieces from sector journals suggest 2026 will deepen this push toward speed and trust as core donor values.
The Data Means Decisions: How Nonprofits Are Adapting
For nonprofit leaders, the headline numbers are only useful if they inform strategy. Fundraising teams are digesting Giving USA’s subsector growth (for example, public-society benefit and international giving rose strongly) and adjusting appeals and program budgets accordingly. Meanwhile, finance and governance teams watch asset-value swings — stock market gains can inflate foundation balance sheets and change grant capacity, but they also make long-term planning tricky. “Financial and economic security drives increases in giving — people give when they feel secure,” said Una Osili, Associate Dean at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, reflecting the macro relationship between economic context and philanthropic flows.
Challenges Ahead: Equity, Payout Pressure, And Accountability
Several structural challenges deserve attention. Equity remains a major concern: many communities — especially rural and low-income neighborhoods — receive disproportionately low levels of funding. There’s also renewed policy chatter about DAF payout expectations and foundation spending requirements. Finally, accountability and impact measurement continue to be touchstones: donors increasingly ask for evidence of outcomes, while nonprofits push back that measurement systems must not crowd out services.
Policy advocates warn that legislative fixes could be slow; others argue the sector should solve many of these issues internally through improved transparency, participatory grantmaking, and stronger community partnerships.
What This Means For Donors, Nonprofits, And The Public
If you’re a donor: consider timing and structure. Donor-advised funds are powerful tools for tax and legacy planning, but directing grants now — especially to community partners — can have outsized short-term impact.
If you’re a nonprofit leader: diversify revenue and deepen local partnerships. Expect donors to ask for evidence, but also to reward trust and long-range commitments.
If you’re a policymaker or concerned citizen: pay attention to where dollars flow. Aggregate giving is strong, but distributional gaps and structural concentration of philanthropic power raise public-interest questions about fairness and accountability.
Final Thought
The headline figures — nearly $593 billion in giving and notable growth across multiple sources — tell a story of resilience. But the real story of American philanthropy in the coming years will be written in how that capital is used: whether it is directed to long-term systems change, invested locally where it matters most, or consolidated into vehicles that prioritize convenience over impact. As sector leaders have argued, philanthropy must meet the moment: faster where speed matters, deeper where equity matters, and more accountable where public trust matters.
