American philanthropy crossed a new threshold in 2025, and foundations helped carry it there.
U.S. charitable giving rose 5.7% last year to an estimated $617.2 billion, topping $600 billion for the first time, according to Giving USA Foundation’s 2026 annual report on philanthropy. Researched by Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the report found that giving grew 3% after adjusting for inflation, the second-highest level on record.
Foundations accounted for $117.15 billion of that total, nearly a fifth of all charitable dollars. Their giving rose 5.7% in current dollars and 3% after inflation. Foundation giving has stayed above $100 billion every year since 2022, and 2025 brought the strongest growth of that stretch.
Foundations and bequests were two of the strongest sources of generosity last year, continuing a pattern of recent years, said Amir Pasic, the Eugene R. Tempel dean of the Lilly Family School, in a statement. The growth likely reflects, in part, “growing asset values due to the strong performance of financial markets,” he said.
Giving breakdown
Those markets lifted other donors too, though less evenly.
Individual giving rose 4.1% to $394.2 billion, but the report noted that consumer sentiment hovered near historic lows and may have held back some households. Bequests jumped 19.7% to $62.19 billion, the biggest gain of any source. Corporate giving edged up 3.1% to $43.67 billion.
The gains were broad on the receiving end as well. Giving grew in eight of nine recipient categories, led by education, up 11.7% to $92.01 billion; public-society benefit, up 11.6%; and environment and animals, up 11%. Human services drew $99.5 billion, up 5.3%. The lone decline was in giving to foundations themselves, which fell 16.2% to $79.05 billion after a record 2024, though that total still ranked among the highest on record.
Those national figures offer a backdrop for philanthropy closer to home.
To take a closer look, the Business Journal sat down with Miguel Santana, president and chief executive of the California Community Foundation, and other leaders among the region’s largest foundations to discuss the state of foundation giving and what lies ahead for philanthropy in Los Angeles.
