By Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA
Originally submitted to Penobscot Bay Pilot
In 2020, a record amount of more than $471 billion was given to charity according to Giving USA, a report produced by the Giving USA Foundation in collaboration with the Lily Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.
The issues raised in a global pandemic, challenges to a civil society and the rule of law, climate change and record stock market value levels are believed to have contributed to this record level of giving.
In the month of June, GivingUSA produces an annual report on the prior calendar year’s giving. The report on 2021 giving was recently published and reported a record amount of $484.85 Billion in giving to charity for 2021. The same issues may have been a factor, and the overall distribution of the source of those gifts remains fairly stable: 67% of those gifts were from individuals, 9% from bequests (deceased individuals), 19% from foundations, and 4% from corporate philanthropy.
Giving growing, donor advised funds gifts included. One of the interesting observations looking historically since before the Great Recession from 2006 through 2019 pointed to growth in all charitable giving of 52% and an increase of 330% in giving through donor-advised funds, which as of 2021 represented 6% of charitable giving overall. Donor advised funds are an alternative to creating a private foundation. Donors make a contribution to an organization like a community foundation or other sponsoring charity (think Fidelity Charitable), and then advise the organization as to the grants to charities they would like the fund to make. Their relative simplicity and lower administrative cost along with favorable tax treatment make them an attractive alternative to creating foundations.
Another observation about 2021 giving is the growth of 22.8% to environmental and animal protection organizations during the pandemic years. The only area seeing a decrease in giving in 2021 was education, which was down almost 3% over 2020 giving.
Bequest giving growth outpaces giving overall. Bequest gifts grew over 5 years by almost 6%, whereas overall giving growth was just over 4% during the same time period. This could represent a part of the unprecedented transfer of wealth from the boomer generation (those born between 1944 and 1964), recently estimated to be as much as $30 trillion.
Another Forbes article highlights positive giving trends through Fidelity’s Charitable Gift Funds: “Last year (2021), Fidelity Charitable donors recommended $10.3 billion in grants to their favorite charities—which is 13% more than in 2020 and a 41% increase over pre-pandemic levels!”
This is all good news for charitable organizations, reflecting generosity and willingness to share wealth to support the work of non-profits in many areas of society. It also reminds fundraisers of how important it can be to pay attention to the methods of giving that are growing the fastest, like planned gifts through estates and tax-efficient, relatively simple donor-advised funds.
