Giving USA is the most widely anticipated and recognized report on the “state of our sector.” It’s the State of the Union for philanthropy, if you will.
And the latest data from Giving USA is good news! For now…
Below is a summary of what’s in this video — not an exact transcript. But you’ll get the gist whether you decide to read, listen or watch.
Giving USA 2018 — Good News for Fundraisers
The recently released Giving USA 2018 report paints a rosy picture … at least, for the time being.
The good news is that giving is up across the board!
Giving to charity by Americans crossed the $400 Billion mark for the first time this year. The economy is strong and there was growth in almost all areas.
The bad news is that the future is unknown. (This is me surmising … not from the Giving USA report directly.)
Implications of the new tax law
What I’m referring to are the unknown implications from the new tax bill. We (in the charitable sector) always used to say that taxes were low on the list of reasons people gave, but now we’re going to see if that’s true.
In other words, people give because they’re passionate and want to make a difference, not for tax reasons. However, that assumed truth is going to be put to the test.
Finally, some more good news…
Individuals Continue to Give the Most
As has been the case for many years, individuals give approximately 70% of the charitable dollars in this country and an additional 9% comes via bequest.
Meanwhile, corporations and foundations combined only give 21%. So, if you’re a development director who’s responsible for “doing it all” and you’re spending 50%, 60%, or 70% or more of your time on raising money from corporations and foundations, you’re missing a HUGE opportunity to raise money from individuals.
In other words, if you’re spending most of your time on corporations and foundations — you’re probably making a mistake.
So… keep working on raising money from individuals. If you’re raising major gifts, you’re still on the right track.
Other Key Takeaways
Other things to keep in mind are that a huge amount of donations went into donor advised funds. That may or may not be good for charities. Not only that, another enormous amount of individual giving came from the ultra-wealthy in the form of mega-donations — $200 million or more.
What did you think of the Giving USA Data? Any other key takeaways? Leave your comment below.
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