Arts Nonprofits Grew Half as Fast as Education in a Record $617.2 Billion Giving Year

U.S. charitable giving reached a record $617.2 billion in 2025, up 5.7% in current dollars from the previous year, according to the Giving USA 2026 report released in June 2026 by the Giving Institute. The report, based on research from Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, marks the first time total giving exceeded $600 billion in a single year and represents only the second-highest inflation-adjusted total on record.

Yet the record masks divergent trends across nonprofit sectors and a fundamental structural shift in American philanthropy. Arts, culture and humanities received $27.31 billion in 2025—up 4.7%—but lagged behind education (up 8.9% to $92.01 billion), environmental nonprofits (up 8.2% to $24.57 billion) and public-benefit organizations (up 8.7% to $72.06 billion). Most troublingly, individual donors' share of all giving fell from 80% in the mid-to-late 1980s to just 64% in 2025, even as total dollars climbed.

How $617.2 billion broke down across funding sources

Individual donations remained the dominant force in American philanthropy, providing $394.2 billion, or 64% of total giving. This represented a 4.1% increase in current dollars, boosted by strong stock market performance that expanded asset values for wealthy donors. However, the rising total masked a declining share of giving from individual donors, concentrating giving power among an increasingly narrow base of major donors.

Foundations contributed $117.2 billion (19% of total), maintaining levels above $100 billion annually since 2022. Corporate giving reached $43.7 billion (7% of total), showing the slowest growth among the four funding sources but having expanded 60% over the past five years. Bequests—money left to nonprofits through wills and estates—surged 19.7% to $62.2 billion, which some philanthropy experts say could signal the start of the 'great wealth transfer' from baby boomers to nonprofits. In three of the past four years, bequest giving has risen 20% or more, according to the Giving USA report.

Arts facing steeper competition for donor dollars

The arts, culture and humanities sector's 4.7% growth, while positive, represents significantly weaker momentum than other charitable categories. Education, which received $92.01 billion and grew 8.9%, has become an increasingly dominant focus for major donors. Public-society benefit organizations surged 8.7% to $72.06 billion, capturing donor attention alongside environmental and animal welfare nonprofits that grew 8.2% to $24.57 billion.

Religion, historically the largest recipient of charitable dollars at 23% of all giving, or $151.58 billion, declined 0.2% in 2025 when adjusted for inflation—though it rose 2.4% in current dollars—continuing a decades-long downward trend as a share of total giving.

The $27.31 billion flowing to arts, culture and humanities represents only 4% of total charitable giving.

Mega-donors drive giving as individuals' share shrinks

The paradox of 2025 giving is stark: total dollars reached a historic high even as individual donors' share of the total continued to shrink. According to the Giving USA report, this reflects a fundamental concentration of philanthropic power. The share of giving from individuals fell from 80% in the late 1980s to 64% in 2025, a decline that signals mega-donors and inherited wealth increasingly dictate the philanthropic landscape.

MacKenzie Scott led all donors with $6.65 billion in contributions during 2025. The donors on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's Philanthropy 50 list gave $22.4 billion in 2025—accounting for roughly 3.6% of all U.S. charitable giving.

Donors on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual Philanthropy 50 list tend to give to nonprofits they have 'known and trusted for years and sometimes decades.'

Public-society benefit gains; uncertainty ahead

Public-society benefit organizations saw stronger growth at 8.7% in 2025, continuing to outpace arts, culture and humanities' 4.7% increase.

Looking ahead, uncertain economic conditions may pressure all nonprofit sectors. Despite record giving in 2025, consumer sentiment remained historically depressed, according to analysts reviewing the Giving USA data. Tax policy changes and shifts in the economy could dampen future giving from wealthy donors who drove 2025's record totals.