In this episode of The First Day from The Fund Raising School, Bill Stanczykiewicz, Ed.D., welcomes Christina Daniken, senior member of the research team at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and Editor-in-Chief, for Giving USA. The big headline: charitable giving in the United States reached $617.2 billion in 2025, growing 5% in current dollars and crossing the $600 billion mark for the first time. Adjusted for inflation, giving still trails the pandemic-era high of 2021, but Bill and Christina underscore the encouraging reality that Americans continued to give generously despite inflation, market volatility, tariffs, and historically low consumer sentiment.

Bill and Christina then dig into where the money came from, walking through the four major sources tracked by Giving USA: individuals, bequests, foundations, and corporations. Individual giving remained the mighty locomotive of American philanthropy, rising 4.1% to $394.2 billion. Bequests delivered one of the year’s most eye-catching stories, growing 19.7% to $62.19 billion, with Christina noting that bequests have grown by about 20% in three of the last four years. Foundation giving also climbed 5.7% to $117.15 billion, staying above the $100 billion mark for the fourth consecutive year. Corporate giving grew more modestly, up 3.1% to $43.67 billion, but Christina reminds listeners not to panic: over the past five years, corporate giving has actually grown the most among the major source categories, even as it shifts toward more strategic giving, employee matching, and local sponsorships.

The conversation then turns to where the money went across the nonprofit subsectors. Religion remained the largest recipient category, as it has for decades, receiving $151.58 billion, or 23% of total giving, though its share of the overall giving pie continues to shrink gradually. Human services continued its pandemic-era rise, reaching $99.5 billion and accounting for 15% of all charitable giving, its highest share on record. Education remained strong at just over $92 billion, or 14% of total giving. Christina also highlights that the strongest growth in 2025 appeared in education, public-society benefit, and environment, while health, arts, and environment/animals reached inflation-adjusted highs.

Bill and Christina close by making the data practical for fundraisers, especially around long-term trends and donor advised funds. Christina explains that public-society benefit includes many broad community, civic, economic development, and philanthropic organizations, and she helps clarify how Giving USA counts gifts to donor advised funds depending on whether they are held by national sponsors, community foundations, universities, religious organizations, or other issue-specific sponsors. Bill emphasizes that the smart folks behind Giving USA work carefully to avoid double-counting gifts as they move into and out of DAFs. The takeaway is clear and wonderfully useful: the 2025 numbers offer plenty of good news, a few flashing yellow lights, and a whole buffet of data fundraisers can use for planning, strategy, and making the case for support.

The Giving USA 2026 report can be accessed at https://givingusa.org/.