Charitable giving in the United States is estimated to be $306.39 billion in 2007, exceeding $300 billion for the first time in history, according to Giving USA 2008, the yearbook on philanthropy released today by Giving USA Foundation.  MORE »

U.S. charitable giving reached a new record in 2006, an estimated $295.02 billion, according to Giving USA 2007, the yearbook of philanthropy published by Giving USA Foundation (TM) and researched and written by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.  MORE »

The Giving USA Foundation and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University have released their annual report on philanthropy, "Giving USA." According to the report, Americans gave total contributions of $260.28 billion for 2005, a 6.1 percent increase from 2004. The report stated about half the $15 billion increase is attributable to donors' response to three major natural disasters.  MORE »

After two years of limited growth in charitable contributions, Americans picked up the pace in 2004, showing they are a generous bunch. They donated nearly $250 billion to various causes across the United States, an almost 5 percent increase over 2003. That's the key finding in "Giving USA 2005," published annually by the Giving USA Foundation. The $248.52 billion in donations set a new record for philanthropy in the United States.  MORE »

The AAFRC Trust For Philanthropy, which is the educational and research initiative of the American Association of Fundraising Counsel, has released Giving USA 2004, its annual report on charitable giving by American individiuals, estates, foundations, and corporations. The report concludes that Americans gave $240.72 billion during 2003, a 2.8% (or 0.5% inflation adjusted) increase from 2002 and the highest growth since 2000.  MORE »

In February of 2000, the PGDC published a study by Paul G. Schervish and John J. Havens entitled, "Millionaires and the Millennium: New Estimates of the Forthcoming Wealth Transfer and the Prospects for a Golden Age of Philanthropy." The study predicted that over the 55-year period from 1998 to 2052, a minimum of $41 Trillion will pass from one generation to the next. However, in light of the recent recession and prolonged downturn in the equity markets, are the authors' predictions still valid? As you can tell by the title of this article, they haven't changed their minds.  MORE »

The AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy, in concert with the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, today released Giving USA, its annual report on philanthropy in America for the year 2001. American charities received $212 billion in 2001 amidst the conflicting influences of recession and national tragedy. This represents an increase from the prior year of 0.5% and an inflation adjusted decrease of 2.3%.   MORE »

Most people know that women outlive men by an average of seven years, but did you know that women also make more planned gifts? In this edition of Gift Planner's Digest, Cheryl Altinkemer of Purdue University and the Women's Philanthropy Institute discusses this phenomenon and how planners can tune their communications skills to match the unique values and giving styles of women donors.  MORE »

The rumors of the death of charitable bequests in the face of estate tax repeal have been greatly exaggerated. In this issue of Gift Planner's Digest, Robert F. Sharpe & Co. reports the results of a recent study conducted by Paul Schervish on behalf of Bankers Trust Private Banking that finds wealth holders would likely give more to both their heirs and charitable causes if the estate tax was repealed.  MORE »

Published as a companion piece to New Report Shows How Super- Wealthy Give, Robert F. Sharpe, Jr. and Barlow T. Mann, J.D. analyze IRS data from estate tax returns filed in 1998 and discuss what we can learn about the factors that influence charitable behavior.  MORE »