Giving Dashboard

Americans' giving patterns have always been in a state of flux, reflecting new social, economic, cultural, and technological trends.

Although certain elements of charitable giving have remained remarkably stable over the past half century—giving to 501(c)(3) charities as a proportion of individual disposable income has stayed near 2 percent for 40 years, for instance—the landscape continues to transform. Donor-advised funds, online crowdfunding, and digital giving, for example, have emerged and become more prominent in recent decades, reshaping giving and the ways researchers define, track, and measure it.

Below, we have collected and organized data into a giving dashboard that provides a snapshot of the many ways Americans give. We define giving expansively to include not only donations to tax-exempt nonprofits, but also crowdfunding, impact investing, and more. Many of our categories contain several measures from a range of data sources. On the right side of the dashboard, we provide a quick overview of each category by highlighting how the first measure in the category changed during the latest year for which data are available. By clicking on the category, you can explore all the measures within it. Although many types of giving resist quantification, the figures in this dashboard represent indicators that illuminate the dominant trends shaping the contemporary giving landscape in the United States.