Charitable giving continued its upward climb during 2017, breaking another record and demonstrating Americans’ generosity, according to the Giving USA report released Tuesday.
Because of the booming stock market and strong economy in 2017, charitable giving by U.S. individuals, bequests, foundations and corporations surged to $410.02 billion last year, according to Giving USA 2018: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2017.
Charitable giving last year increased by 5.2 percent over the revised total of $389.64 billion contributed in 2016, the first time the giving rate has topped $400 billion, according to the report, which was published by the Giving USA Foundation, a public service initiative of The Giving Institute (www.givingusa.org). It was researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
The natural and man-made disasters that struck during 2017—Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the mass shooting in Las Vegas—also brought an outpouring of charitable contributions, especially from corporations, according to Amir Pasic of the Lily Family School of Philanthropy.
Disaster planning changed this year, Pasic said. Organizations began ramping up their responses even before natural disasters hit, so that organizations on the ground were better prepared when help was needed.
Giving from all four sources—individuals, bequests, foundations and corporations—increased. Giving from individuals still makes up the bulk (70 percent) of contributions, while corporate donations are the smallest proportion at 5 percent.
There has been speculation that some donors increased their giving at the end of 2017 so they could deduct more of the contributions ahead of the standard deduction increase included in the 2018 tax reform law. “While policy developments may have played some role in charitable giving in 2017, most of the effects of the tax policy changes adopted in late December 2017 likely will affect giving in 2018 and beyond,” the report said.
“At this point it is too early to tell how policy changes will affect giving, but anecdotally we hear charities are holding steady,” Aggie Sweeney, chair of the Giving USA Foundation, said during a press briefing on the report. However, at least one report showed a decline in the first part of the year.
It was also speculated contributions to donor-advised funds would be affected by the change in tax policy, with donors giving large contributions at the end of 2017 and then tapering off after the standard deduction was increased. However, Kim Laughton, president of Schwab Charitable, a donor advised fund, said contributions to Schwab were up 33 percent to $682 million from Jan. 1 through May compared to last year.
“Philanthropists obviously did not give all their donations last year. However, in the future donors may give bigger donations every few years [so they exceed the standard deduction] and then make grants throughout the year,” Laughton said.