U.S. charitable giving had a good year, not a great year, in 2025, up 3%, adjusted for inflation, to $617.2 billion. The big factor: bequests—gifts left through wills—which rose 16.5% to $62.2 billion, according to the Giving USA Foundation. Bequests have risen in three of the past four years, a pattern that holds over recent five-year periods, says Jon Bergdoll, interim director of data and research partnerships at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, which researched and wrote the report.
Charitable Giving: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way
An annual report finds donations to nonprofits rose by 3% in inflation-adjusted dollars to $617.2 billion in 2025
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