In 2024, total charitable giving in the U.S. reached an all-time high: $592.5 billion.
That figure alone might suggest a banner year for fundraising. But beneath the surface, the data tells a more complicated (and more urgent) story.
While generosity remains strong, the composition of giving is changing; participation continues to decline, and the pressure on nonprofit teams to operate with precision, transparency, and efficiency has never been higher.
This is a record-setting year and a turning point.
The Giving USA 2025 report offers fundraisers a clear signal of where fundraising is heading, and what nonprofits must do now to succeed in this new era.
Let’s break down what the latest numbers reveal and what today’s nonprofit teams need to do differently.
Let’s Take A Closer Look at the Numbers
Here’s what the latest data from Giving USA shows:
- Total giving: $592.5 billion
– Up 6.3% over 2023.
– Up 3.3% when adjusted for inflation.
– When adjusted for inflation, 2021 remains the best giving year on record.
– Mega gifts totaled $11.72 billion, consistent with recent years. - Giving by individuals: $392.45 billion
– 66% of total giving.
– Up 8.2% year over year (5.1% after inflation).
– Annualized growth over the last five years: 5.4%. - Giving by foundations: $109.81 billion
– 19% of total.
– Up 2.4% year over year.
– Annualized growth over five years: 8.5%. - Giving by corporations: $44.4 billion
– 7% of total.
– Up 9.1%.
– Represents 1.1% of pre-tax profits—the highest share in 40 years. - Giving by bequest: $45.84 billion
– 8% of total.
– Down 1.6% from 2023. - Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs): Continued rapid growth and significant institutional giving influence.
- Inflation: Around 3%, down from previous years.
- Consumer sentiment: Up from 2023, but still low historically.
Where The Charitable Dollars Went In 2024
Giving remained diverse across sectors, with religion receiving the largest share at $146.54 billion (23%), followed closely by human services and education, each capturing 14% of total giving.
Education in particular saw notable growth, up 13.2% year over year. Foundations and public-society benefit organizations each received 11% of contributions, with the latter jumping 19.5% over 2023.
Health organizations drew $60.51 billion (10%), while international affairs giving increased 17.7% to $35.54 billion. Contributions to arts, culture, and humanities rose by 9.5%, and environmental and animal causes grew 7.7%, reflecting steady donor interest in mission-driven causes.
The only major decline was seen in giving to individuals, which fell by 11.9% to $23.59 billion, continuing a long-term downward trend.
What This Means for Fundraisers in 2025: Revenue Is Up, Complexity Is Higher
The headline number, $592.5 billion, makes it tempting to celebrate. But growth alone doesn’t guarantee sustainability. In fact, this year’s numbers reflect a growing disconnect between total dollars raised and the systems nonprofits are using to raise them.
Let’s unpack the deeper signals fundraisers need to act on now.
1. Individual Giving Is Still the Backbone, but It’s Under Strain
At 66% of total giving, individuals remain the core of philanthropy. But compare that to 82% in 1984, and the long-term trend is clear: the individual giving base is narrowing. The sector is increasingly reliant on a smaller set of larger gifts from a shrinking pool of donors.
Acquisition is harder. Churn is rising. And mass, untargeted campaigns? They’re not built for today’s donor reality.
How to Take Action:
Move from one-size-fits-all campaigns to lifecycle-specific journeys.
Treat new, recurring, and lapsed donors differently, not just by message, but by channel, cadence, and ask.
Use impact reporting as a systemized retention lever, not a one-time story. When you build donor engagement as an always-on system, retention stops being a guessing game and starts becoming a growth engine.
2. Corporate Giving Is Reentering the Conversation
Corporate giving rose by 9.1%, the fastest growth of any giving source. At 1.1% of pre-tax profits, it reached its highest share in four decades.
Corporate giving is back, but today’s donors want alignment, not just a logo on a flyer.
How to Take Action:
Shift your corporate strategy from transactional to transformational. That means reworking your pitch decks to center shared values and measurable outcomes, not just brand placement.
Equip your team to report results in the language business leaders use (outcomes, reach, return) not just feel-good moments. And use campaign data to tell a story that makes renewal feel like momentum, not obligation.
3. Foundation Giving Is Strong, but It’s Not a Safety Net
With $109.81 billion in giving, foundations hit an all-time high. But that doesn’t make them a fallback.
Foundations can’t make up for lost individuals, especially when their dollars come with restrictions, timelines, and reporting overhead.
How to Take Action:
Build a system that lets you manage foundation relationships at scale, without burning out your staff. That starts by automating reporting touchpoints, tracking restriction terms, and integrating funder data into your planning cycle.
Foundations are reliable, but they’re not agile. Diversify now, and treat foundation income as part of a broader, multi-segment funding model, not a fallback plan.
4. Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) Require a New Stewardship Playbook
DAFs are growing fast, but they behave differently than typical donors. DAF contributors are often strategic, long-term thinkers who prioritize alignment over urgency.
DAF donors are planning their giving years in advance, and if you’re not in their plan, you’re not in their portfolio.
How to Take Action:
Treat DAF donors as planners, not givers. They need trust, transparency, and time.
Build a stewardship cadence that reflects that: share long-term goals, mid-year pivots, and mission-aligned milestones, not just donation appeals.
Use system-based tagging to isolate DAF donors in your CRM, track engagement over time, and create content that reinforces alignment, not urgency.
5. Inflation Still Eats at Real Gains
While nominal giving rose 6.3%, the real growth (adjusted for inflation) was only 3.3%. As operational costs rise, many nonprofits are being asked to deliver more results with less net revenue.
Your totals may be up, but if your team’s capacity is flat, your margin for impact is shrinking.
How to Take Action:
Don’t wait for inflation to stabilize, optimize now.
Invest in infrastructure that reduces waste: centralize donor data, automate key workflows, and standardize segmentation.
Focus every campaign around efficiency and clarity. When your fundraising system operates with fewer inputs and smarter outputs, economic volatility doesn’t stop growth, it sharpens it.
What the Most Successful Nonprofits Will Do Differently in 2025
The fundraising organizations best positioned to grow in 2025 share one key behavior: they treat donor retention as a core strategy, not lagging data.
Here’s how you can do the same:
1. Make Donor Retention a Frontline Strategy
Individual giving may still account for two-thirds of total revenue, but its long-term decline means you can’t afford to treat any donor like a temporary boost.
Retention is no longer a reporting metric. It’s your revenue engine.
Double down on:
- Lifecycle-based segmentation.
- Automated re-engagement journeys/
- Systematic impact reporting, not just thank-you notes.
Donor retention is a strategy, not a scoreboard. Build it into your daily operations, not your annual report.
2. Invest in Infrastructure That Powers Growth
The nonprofits that scale in 2025 won’t just tell better stories, they’ll build better systems. Clean CRMs. Connected tools. Segmentation that works.
Focus on:
- Centralizing donor data.
- Automating manual lift.
- Personalizing communication without reinventing the wheel every time.
Infrastructure is strategy. A compelling message means nothing if your team can’t deliver it consistently.
3. Bridge the Generosity Gap
Giving isn’t dying. It’s just showing up in new places, from new people, with new expectations.
Modern donors are values-driven, identity-aware, and digitally native. To reach them, nonprofits need to move beyond mass outreach and embrace message-market fit.
Try:
- Digital-first campaigns that speak to identity and impact.
- Segmentation based on motivations, not just gift size.
- Real-time optimization, not batch-and-blast schedules.
Generosity is evolving. Meet your donors where they are—and speak their language once you arrive.
4. Lead with Transparency, Not Perfection
Donors want to believe in your work and that belief is built on trust, not polish. Your wins matter. But so do your pivots. And so do your challenges.
Build trust by:
- Sharing impact data that connects dollars to outcomes.
- Telling real stories, not just success stories.
- Offering visibility into your process, not just your results.
Vulnerability is a differentiator. In a crowded space, honesty earns the long-term gift.
5. Support the People Behind the Mission
The pressure on fundraising teams hasn’t eased. Burnout remains high. And no system (not even Avid) can replace the energy of a healthy, supported, and well-equipped team.
What helps:
- Clear roles and realistic goals.
- Mental health and workload support.
- Training on tools and strategy, not just execution.
Donor retention starts with fundraiser retention. A strong team is your most valuable asset.
This Is a Key Year for Fundraisers
The numbers in Giving USA 2025 are predictive. They tell us where the sector is heading and what will divide the organizations that grow from the ones that stall.
Retention will rise or fall based on what you automate. Personalization will succeed or fail based on how you segment. And campaign ROI will depend on how well your tools actually work together.
In a world of record-breaking generosity and record-high complexity, fundraisers don’t need more tactics. They need a system.
The Future Belongs to System-First Fundraisers
Giving isn’t dying, it’s evolving.
Donors are still generous. But they’re more discerning, more strategic, and more digitally native than ever before.
To thrive in this next era, nonprofit teams need more than new campaigns or platforms. They need systems that think, adapt, and act, systems that eliminate guesswork and reduce friction at every step.
That’s what Avid was built to deliver.
Let’s stop reacting to reports. Let’s start acting on them.
👉 Want to See How Avid Helps You Operationalize Every Insight In This Report?
Book a demo and we’ll show you how fundraisers are using Avid to:
- Unify donor data across platforms.
- Surface high-value segments automatically.
- Launch retention, upgrade, and reactivation campaigns without the manual lift.
