U.S. charitable giving tops $600B thanks to megadonors and bequests

A version of this article originally appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to high-net-worth investors and consumers. become a member to receive future editions straight to your inbox.

Donors gave an estimated $617.2 billion to U.S. charities last year, according to the Giving USA report released this week; This increased by 5.7% compared to the previous year, driven by the rapid rise in the stock market.

The findings show that annual donations have surpassed $600 billion for the first time in the 60-year history of the annual philanthropy report published by the Giving USA Foundation. When adjusted for inflation, the abandonment rate increased by 3% annually.

But the impact of the stock market’s rise was more pronounced among donors with deep pockets. Individual donors still accounted for the largest contribution at $394.2 billion, but that amount rose only 1.4% in inflation-adjusted dollars, while charitable donations (gifts made after death) rose 16.6% to an estimated $62.19 billion.

The increase in wills may be the final signal of the Great Wealth Transfer. Cerulli Associates estimates that more than $124 trillion in assets will be transferred by 2048, and nearly $18 trillion will be allocated to charities.

Jon Bergdoll, the report’s lead analyst, said it was too early to tell how much of the increase in inherited gifts was due to massive wealth transfers.

What’s clearer, according to Bergdoll, is that the biggest beneficiaries of the stock market’s rally are wealthy Americans, who are the most likely to leave large sums to charity.

“There’s always a pretty tight connection between inheritance and overall net worth, and that’s pretty tied to the market,” said Bergdoll, interim director of data and research partnerships at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, who researched and wrote the report.

The stock market’s impact on overall giving, including donations by foundations and corporations, is slower and more muted. However, Bergdoll said he expects a larger increase in donations given the strong market growth over the past few years. According to the report, the S&P 500 is up 13.4% in inflation-adjusted dollars between 2024 and 2025; this was roughly four times the growth rate in total donations.

He attributed much of the difference between paper wealth and total endowment to slow growth in gross domestic product and record low consumer sentiment.

“This is a bit of a strange economy in terms of stock market growth,” he said. “When the market is doing well and the GDP is doing well, there seems to be a lot of discomfort. We know that giving comes from a place of providing financial security for people, and that can drag things down a little bit from an individual perspective.”

Bergdoll added that if stock fluctuations were followed by charitable donations, it would be detrimental to the nonprofit sector closely.

“We don’t want this to be a one-on-one relationship,” he said. “While we want donations to increase 20% when the market is up 20%, we really don’t want donations to decrease 20% when the market is down 20%.”

Many of the top earners were expected to withdraw donations in 2025 to take advantage of reduced tax benefits due to the One Big Good Bill Act. Bergdoll said the increase was significant but small compared to overall contributions. The report estimates donors are giving an additional $1.71 billion in 2025 to take better advantage of expiring tax incentives.

As U.S. charities receive more dollars, they have become increasingly reliant on the ultra-rich as economic pressures squeeze middle-class donors. The report estimated nine donors accounted for $22.32 billion in total philanthropy last year. MacKenzie Scott, philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, made the largest contribution with $6.65 billion.

Megagifts from these donors, or contributions of at least 0.1% of total giving, can reshape philanthropy from year to year. Almost a third of the increase in legacy donations came from the legacy of former Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who established a $3.1 billion fund for science and technology research.

Gabe Cooper, vice president of the Giving USA Foundation, told CNBC he has mixed feelings about mega-gifts.

“Do I like that the Paul Allens and MacKenzie Scotts of the world have committed to donating most of their wealth? Yes, 100%, and I wish more billionaires would do the same,” said Cooper, who is also CEO of fundraising platform Virtious. “On the other hand, I don’t actually want that number to grow too much. I don’t want to increase dependence on the mega-rich, whose donation patterns may be more variable from year to year.”

While the increase in bequests has been a boon for philanthropy, Cooper has his eye on the bigger prize: heirs.

“If a billionaire dies and they give $200 million to charity, the other $800 million will probably go to their children, and I want those kids to make really good decisions philanthropically,” he said.