Research

The Charitable Giving and Deductions Report 2026

The Ledgerism Editorial Team
By The Ledgerism Editorial Team · The Ledgerism Brief Editorial Team produces original, methodology-disclosed accounting and tax research—data trackers, databases, and reference guides built to be the most-cited source in the field. Every figure is verified against primary sources including FASB, the IRS, the PCAOB, NASBA, the AICPA, and state boards of accountancy.
Published Jul 2, 2026
The Charitable Giving and Deductions Report 2026

A data profile of how much Americans give, who gives it, how much of it is claimed as a tax deduction, and what the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act did to the charitable itemized deduction. This report deliberately separates two different measures that are frequently confused: total charitable giving (a modeled economic estimate produced by Giving USA / the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy) and tax-deducted giving (the charitable contribution deduction actually claimed on tax returns, reported by IRS Statistics of Income). They are not the same number and they do not move together.

Executive summary

Key findings

  1. U.S. charitable giving totaled an estimated $617.20 billion in 2025, a record high in current dollars (Giving USA 2026, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, June 2026).
  2. Individuals supplied an estimated $394.20 billion, or 64%, of all U.S. giving in 2025 (Giving USA 2026).
  3. Charitable bequests jumped an estimated 19.7% in current dollars to $62.19 billion in 2025, the fastest-growing source that year (Giving USA 2026).
  4. Foundation grantmaking reached an estimated $117.15 billion in 2025, above $100 billion for a fourth consecutive year (Giving USA 2026; Giving USA 2025 for prior-year context).
  5. Corporate giving was an estimated $43.67 billion in 2025, the smallest source at 7% of the total (Giving USA 2026).
  6. Total giving equaled 2.01% of GDP in 2025 (derived: Giving USA 2026 over BEA GDP of $30,762.1 billion, FRED series GDPA).
  7. Individual giving equaled an estimated 1.72% of disposable personal income in 2025, near a historic low (derived: Giving USA 2026 over BEA disposable personal income of $22,866.2 billion, FRED series DPI).
  8. About 46.2 million individual returns itemized deductions in tax year 2017; about 16.7 million did in tax year 2018 (IRS SOI, via CNBC, April 9, 2020).
  9. Returns claiming the charitable contribution deduction fell from 37,979,015 (2017) to 14,844,596 (2018) (IRS SOI via Tax Foundation, December 20, 2022).
  10. Itemized charitable deductions claimed fell from $256.0 billion (2017) to $196.9 billion (2018) (IRS SOI via Tax Foundation, December 20, 2022).
  11. Among filers under $100,000 of income, itemizers claiming the charitable deduction fell from 18.4 million to 5.7 million from 2017 to 2018, and the deducted amount fell 54% from $58 billion to $26.7 billion (IRS SOI via Tax Foundation, December 20, 2022).
  12. The IRS SOI historical series shows itemizing returns held near 44-46 million every year from 2008 through 2016, before the TCJA cut them by more than half (IRS SOI Table 7, Historical, tax years 1950-2016).
  13. Religion remained the largest recipient category at an estimated $151.58 billion in 2025, about 25% of giving, but grew only 2.4% in current dollars and fell 0.2% after inflation (Giving USA 2026).
  14. Education giving rose an estimated 11.7% in current dollars to $92.01 billion in 2025 (Giving USA 2026).
  15. The 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act creates a permanent above-the-line charitable deduction of up to $1,000 per filer (up to $2,000 for joint filers as commonly reported) for non-itemizers and imposes a 0.5%-of-AGI floor on the itemized charitable deduction, both effective tax year 2026 (Tax Foundation summary of P.L. 119-21 / OBBBA, 2025).

Section 1: Total charitable giving by source

Giving USA, produced by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and researched at the school, is the standard reference for total U.S. giving. It is a modeled estimate of all giving to U.S. charities from four sources, not a tally of tax returns. Treat it as Tier-2 authoritative for the giving total and label it as an estimate. Recipient-side and source-side figures are revised in later editions, so the same year can carry slightly different values across reports.

Total giving reached an estimated $617.20 billion in 2025, the first year above $600 billion, up 5.7% in current dollars and 3.0% after inflation.

Individuals gave an estimated $394.20 billion in 2025, the largest source at 64%, up 4.1% in current dollars and 1.4% after inflation.

Foundations gave an estimated $117.15 billion in 2025, 19% of the total, up 5.7% in current dollars.

Bequests totaled an estimated $62.19 billion in 2025, 10% of the total, up 19.7% in current dollars and 16.6% after inflation, the fastest-growing source.

Corporations gave an estimated $43.67 billion in 2025, 7% of the total, up 3.1% in current dollars and roughly flat after inflation.

Total giving by source, 2018, 2024, 2025

Source 2018 ($B) 2024 ($B) 2025 ($B) 2025 share 2025 YoY current 2025 YoY real
Individuals 292.09 392.45 394.20 64% +4.1% +1.4%
Foundations 75.86 109.81 117.15 19% +5.7% +3.0%
Bequests 39.71 45.84 62.19 10% +19.7% +16.6%
Corporations ~20.05 44.40 43.67 7% +3.1% +0.5%
Total 427.71 592.50 617.20 100% +5.7% +3.0%

Source: Giving USA 2019 (for 2018), Giving USA 2025 (for 2024), Giving USA 2026 (for 2025), Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The 2018 corporate figure is the residual of the reported total less the three reported sources and is shown as approximate. Percentages are as reported for 2025.

What the numbers mean: the individual share has slipped from about 68-70% a decade ago toward the mid-60s, while foundations and DAF-fed giving have risen, a structural shift toward institutional and intermediary giving. Bequest volatility is inherent because bequests depend on the timing and size of estates settled in a given year.

Section 2: The charitable tax deduction (IRS Statistics of Income)

This is the tax-deducted giving measure. It counts only charitable contributions actually claimed as an itemized deduction on Schedule A. It excludes giving by non-itemizers, giving by corporations (deducted on corporate returns), and gifts that produce no deduction. It is Tier-1 primary data from IRS SOI.

In tax year 2017, 37,979,015 returns claimed the charitable contribution deduction, for $256.0 billion.

In tax year 2018, 14,844,596 returns claimed the charitable contribution deduction, for $196.9 billion.

The number of returns claiming the deduction fell 60.9%, and the dollars claimed fell $59.1 billion, or 23.1%, in a single year.

The IRS SOI historical series (Table 7) shows the pre-TCJA baseline was stable: itemizing returns ran 44.0 million to 46.6 million every year from 2009 through 2016, with total itemized deduction dollars between $1.19 trillion and $1.29 trillion. The 2018 collapse is a discrete policy break, not a trend.

Itemizing returns, IRS SOI Table 7, selected years

Tax year Total returns (M) Returns taking standard deduction (M) Returns itemizing (M) Itemized deductions ($B)
2012 144.9 97.2 45.6 1,238.7
2014 148.6 102.6 44.0 1,206.7
2016 150.3 103.0 45.2 1,293.4
2017 n/a n/a ~46.2 n/a
2018 n/a n/a ~16.7 n/a

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Historical Table 7 (Standard, Itemized, and Total Deductions), tax years 1950-2016; 2017 and 2018 itemizer counts from IRS SOI as reported by CNBC (April 9, 2020). The 2017-2018 figures are the all-itemizer counts, broader than the charitable-deduction-only counts in Section 2 above.

Flag: the machine-readable SOI Table 7 published here ends at tax year 2016. The 2017 and 2018 all-itemizer counts (46.2 million and 16.7 million) are IRS SOI figures reported secondarily; the charitable-specific counts (37.98 million and 14.84 million) are IRS SOI figures presented in Tax Foundation tables. Full-population SOI charitable-deduction counts for tax years 2021-2024 were not directly verified in this compilation and are noted as a gap.

Section 3: Average charitable deduction by income (AGI)

Verified detail available at the population level: among filers with income under $100,000, the number claiming the charitable deduction fell from 18.4 million (2017) to 5.7 million (2018), and the amount deducted fell 54%, from $58.0 billion to $26.7 billion (IRS SOI via Tax Foundation, December 2022).

This lower-and-middle-income cohort absorbed the bulk of the itemizer loss, because the near-doubled standard deduction ($12,000 single / $24,000 joint in 2018) exceeded the itemizable expenses of most households below $100,000. Higher-income filers, who carry mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and large gifts, were far more likely to keep itemizing.

Derived average, lower-income cohort: $26.7 billion across 5.7 million returns implies an average claimed charitable deduction of about $4,680 per claiming return under $100,000 in 2018 (derived from IRS SOI via Tax Foundation). This average rises mechanically after TCJA because only larger givers still clear the standard deduction.

Flag: a full average-deduction-by-AGI-bracket table for a recent year (for example TY2022) requires the IRS SOI Individual Statistical Tables by size of AGI, which were not machine-extracted here. This is a stated data gap. The bracket-level pattern is well established: average claimed charitable deductions rise steeply with AGI and are largest in the top brackets.

Section 4: Giving as a share of GDP and disposable income

Two ratios matter. Total giving over GDP measures giving against the whole economy. Individual giving over disposable personal income measures household generosity against what households have left after taxes. Giving USA publishes both over a 40-year window; the values below are computed independently from Giving USA numerators and BEA (current-dollar, annual) denominators for transparency.

Total giving equaled 2.02% of GDP in 2024 and 2.01% of GDP in 2025 (derived: $592.50B / $29,298.0B; $617.20B / $30,762.1B).

Individual giving equaled 1.79% of disposable personal income in 2024 and an estimated 1.72% in 2025 (derived: $392.45B / $21,917.7B; $394.20B / $22,866.2B).

Giving ratios, derived

Year Total giving ($B) GDP ($B) Giving/GDP Individual giving ($B) DPI ($B) Individual giving/DPI
2024 592.50 29,298.0 2.02% 392.45 21,917.7 1.79%
2025 617.20 30,762.1 2.01% 394.20 22,866.2 1.72%

Source: Giving USA 2025 and 2026 (numerators); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts, annual GDP (FRED series GDPA) and Disposable Personal Income (FRED series DPI), 2024-2025. Ratios computed by The Ledgerism Brief.

What the numbers mean: the giving-to-GDP ratio is remarkably stable near 2%, which is why totals keep setting nominal records even as generosity per dollar of income is flat or slipping. Giving USA and its commentators note individual giving as a share of disposable income sits near the lowest levels the series has recorded (1.7% in 2022 tied the 1995 low). The gap between a record dollar total and a flat-to-declining income share is the single most important framing in this dataset.

Original synthesis: three derived insights

Insight 1: The Deduction Gap, tax-deducted giving as a share of total giving

Formula: itemized charitable deductions claimed (IRS SOI) divided by total giving (Giving USA), same year.

Inputs: 2018 itemized charitable deductions of $196.9 billion (IRS SOI via Tax Foundation); 2018 total giving of $427.71 billion (Giving USA 2019).

Result: in 2018, tax-deducted giving equaled about 46% of measured total giving. Roughly $230.8 billion of 2018 giving, more than half, generated no itemized federal charitable deduction.

Why it is citation-worthy: it quantifies the common but usually unquantified claim that “most giving is not tax-driven.” Post-TCJA, the majority of American giving happens outside the deduction. Limitation: the two numerators are built on different methods (tax filings vs economic modeling); the ratio is directional, not exact. Corporate and foundation giving in the Giving USA total are deducted elsewhere or not at all, which is part of why the ratio is well under 100%.

Insight 2: The TCJA Itemizer Shock Index

Formula: one-year percentage change in the count of returns claiming the charitable deduction, and in dollars claimed, from 2017 to 2018.

Inputs: returns 37,979,015 to 14,844,596; dollars $256.0B to $196.9B (IRS SOI via Tax Foundation).

Result: a 60.9% collapse in claiming returns against only a 23.1% drop in dollars claimed. The 2.6-to-1 ratio between the two shows that the filers who stopped itemizing were overwhelmingly small givers; the deduction concentrated sharply toward high-dollar donors. Roughly 23.1 million returns stopped claiming the charitable deduction while the surviving 14.8 million returns still accounted for 77% of the pre-reform dollars.

Why it is citation-worthy: it isolates the distributional signature of TCJA on charitable tax incentives in two clean, primary-sourced ratios. Limitation: 2017 and 2018 are single years; some behavior reflects timing (accelerating 2017 gifts ahead of the law).

Insight 3: The Record-High-Yet-Flat paradox

Formula: index nominal total giving to a record while simultaneously tracking individual giving as a share of disposable personal income.

Inputs: 2025 total giving $617.20B (all-time nominal high, Giving USA 2026); individual-giving/DPI of 1.72% in 2025 vs 1.79% in 2024 (derived over BEA DPI).

Result: 2025 set a nominal record and crossed $600 billion for the first time, yet households gave a smaller share of their after-tax income than the year before and near the lowest share Giving USA has recorded. The record is a function of a larger economy and asset prices, not rising household generosity intensity.

Why it is citation-worthy: it gives journalists a defensible way to report a record without overstating it. The headline number and the intensity number point in opposite directions. Limitation: the DPI ratio uses a Giving USA estimated numerator; small revisions move the second decimal.

Charts to create

  1. “The Itemizer Cliff.” Data: IRS SOI itemizing returns and charitable-deduction returns, 2008-2018. Source: IRS SOI Table 7 and Tax Foundation extraction of SOI. Insight: a flat 44-46 million line that falls off a cliff in 2018. Citation-worthy because it visualizes a discrete policy break, not a trend.
  2. “Record dollars, flat share.” Dual-axis line: total giving in dollars (rising to $617.2B) vs individual-giving/DPI (flat near 1.7-1.9%), 2015-2025. Source: Giving USA + BEA. Insight: the paradox in one image.
  3. “Where giving comes from.” Stacked area of the four sources, 2018/2024/2025. Source: Giving USA. Insight: the individual share sliding toward the mid-60s while bequests spike in 2025.
  4. “The Deduction Gap.” Two bars per year: total giving vs itemized charitable deductions claimed. Source: Giving USA + IRS SOI. Insight: how much giving falls outside the deduction after TCJA.

Methodology

Source selection prioritized Tier-1 primary data: IRS Statistics of Income for tax-deducted charitable contributions and itemizer counts, and BEA national accounts (accessed as annual series via FRED) for GDP and disposable personal income denominators. Giving USA (Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy) is used for total giving and source/recipient breakdowns and is labeled Tier-2 authoritative because it is a modeled estimate, not a tax tally. Where SOI charitable-deduction counts for 2017-2018 were needed, they were taken from IRS SOI data as presented in a Tax Foundation analysis (Scott Hodge, December 20, 2022) and from IRS SOI figures reported by CNBC; these are flagged as secondary presentations of primary IRS data. Conflicting numbers were handled by preferring the figure closest to the original IRS SOI table and labeling residuals (for example the 2018 corporate figure) as approximate. Derived ratios (giving/GDP, individual giving/DPI, the Deduction Gap, the Itemizer Shock Index) were computed by dividing Giving USA or IRS SOI numerators by BEA denominators for the matching year; each derivation states its inputs. Every figure carries a year and geography (United States). Figures that could not be verified against a primary or clearly-primary-citing source were excluded. Data limitations: SOI full-population tables lag one to two years and the machine-readable Table 7 here ends at TY2016; a full recent average-deduction-by-AGI table is a stated gap. Date of last update: 2026-06-29.

Source quality ranking

Tier 1 (primary government/statistical):
– IRS Statistics of Income, Historical Table 7 (itemized/standard/total deductions, TY1950-2016). Directly downloaded.
– IRS Statistics of Income, charitable contribution deduction counts and amounts TY2017-2018 (accessed via Tax Foundation and CNBC presentations of the SOI tables; the underlying data are IRS SOI, so labeled Tier-1 data with a secondary access path).
– U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, annual GDP and Disposable Personal Income (NIPA), accessed as FRED series GDPA and DPI.
– One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21, 2025) charitable provisions, as summarized by Tax Foundation.

Tier 2 (credible research / official body estimates):
– Giving USA 2019, 2025, and 2026, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Modeled estimates of total giving.
– Tax Foundation analysis of IRS SOI charitable deduction tables (December 2022).
– Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center estimates of TCJA effects on charitable itemizers.

Tier 3 (reputable journalism):
– CNBC reporting of IRS SOI 2017-2018 itemizer counts.

Excluded: figures behind the paid Giving USA Data Tables (for example the full 40-year individual-giving/DPI series) that could not be verified in free primary form; any single-outlet number lacking a primary citation; projections presented as actuals.

Citation format

Journalist-friendly additions

Most quotable statistics

Data limitations

Giving USA figures are modeled estimates and are revised in later editions. IRS SOI tax-deducted figures measure only itemized claims and understate total giving. The two cannot be added or directly compared without noting the method difference. Some 2018 behavior reflects gift timing around the law change. Recent-year AGI-bracket deduction detail is a stated gap.

Downloadable dataset, recommended fields

year, measure_type (total_giving | tax_deducted), source_or_category, value_usd_billions, share_of_total_pct, yoy_current_pct, yoy_real_pct, giving_to_gdp_pct, individual_giving_to_dpi_pct, returns_claiming_deduction, avg_deduction_usd, geography, primary_source, source_year, notes.

Press summary (about 150 words)

American charitable giving set a nominal record in 2025, reaching an estimated $617.20 billion and crossing $600 billion for the first time, according to Giving USA 2026 from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Individuals supplied 64% of the total, foundations 19%, bequests 10%, and corporations 7%. Yet the record obscures two harder facts. First, giving still equals only about 2% of GDP, the same share as four decades ago, and individual giving fell to roughly 1.72% of disposable income, near an all-time low. Second, the charitable tax deduction has shrunk dramatically since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: IRS data show returns claiming the charitable deduction fell from about 38.0 million in 2017 to 14.8 million in 2018, and total itemizers fell from about 46.2 million to 16.7 million. Most American giving now happens without a federal charitable deduction.

Suggested headlines

FAQ

  1. How much did Americans give to charity in 2025? An estimated $617.20 billion, up 5.7% in current dollars (Giving USA 2026).
  2. Who gives the most? Individuals, at an estimated $394.20 billion, or 64% of the total in 2025 (Giving USA 2026).
  3. How much came from foundations, bequests, and corporations in 2025? An estimated $117.15 billion, $62.19 billion, and $43.67 billion respectively (Giving USA 2026).
  4. Is that the same as tax-deducted giving? No. Tax-deducted giving is much smaller; in 2018, itemized charitable deductions were $196.9 billion against $427.71 billion of total giving (IRS SOI; Giving USA 2019).
  5. How many people claim the charitable deduction? About 14.8 million returns claimed it in 2018, down from about 38.0 million in 2017 (IRS SOI).
  6. Why did that number fall? The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act nearly doubled the standard deduction, so far fewer households itemized; total itemizers fell from about 46.2 million to 16.7 million from 2017 to 2018 (IRS SOI).
  7. What share of income do Americans give? Individual giving was an estimated 1.72% of disposable personal income in 2025 (derived, Giving USA and BEA).
  8. What share of GDP is charitable giving? About 2.01% in 2025 and 2.02% in 2024 (derived, Giving USA and BEA).
  9. What is the largest recipient category? Religion, at an estimated $151.58 billion in 2025, though it grew slower than education and human services (Giving USA 2026).
  10. Did the 2025 tax law change the charitable deduction? Yes. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act adds a permanent above-the-line charitable deduction of up to $1,000 per filer for non-itemizers and a 0.5%-of-AGI floor for itemizers, both effective tax year 2026 (Tax Foundation summary of P.L. 119-21).

Sources

  1. Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Giving USA 2026: U.S. charitable giving rose to $617.20 billion in 2025. June 2026. https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/news-events/news/_news/2026/giving-usa-report-2026.html
  2. Giving USA / Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Giving USA 2025: U.S. charitable giving grew to $592.50 billion in 2024. June 2025. https://givingusa.org/giving-usa-2025-u-s-charitable-giving-grew-to-592-50-billion-in-2024-lifted-by-stock-market-gains/
  3. Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Giving USA 2019: Americans gave $427.71 billion to charity in 2018. June 2019. https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/news-events/news/_news/2019/giving-usa-2019-americans-gave-42771-billion-to-charity-in-2018-amid-complex-year-for-charitable-giving.html
  4. U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income. Historical Table 7, Standard, Itemized, and Total Deductions, tax years 1950-2016. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/histab7.xls
  5. U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income. SOI Tax Stats, individual statistical tables by size of adjusted gross income. https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-individual-statistical-tables-by-size-of-adjusted-gross-income
  6. Tax Foundation (Scott Hodge). The Charitable Deduction Is Mostly Used by the Wealthy (IRS SOI Tables 2-3). December 20, 2022. https://taxfoundation.org/blog/charitable-deduction-tax-incentives/
  7. CNBC. About 30 million people lost these tax breaks in 2018 (IRS SOI itemizer counts). April 9, 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/09/about-30-million-people-lost-these-tax-breaks-in-2018.html
  8. Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. How did the TCJA affect incentives for charitable giving? https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-did-tcja-affect-incentives-charitable-giving
  9. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts. Annual GDP (FRED series GDPA) and Disposable Personal Income (FRED series DPI). https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gross-domestic-product | https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DPI
  10. Tax Foundation. Changes to Charitable Giving Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21). 2025. https://taxfoundation.org/blog/charitable-deduction-big-beautiful-bill/
  11. National Philanthropic Trust. Charitable Giving Statistics (DAF and giving figures, citing Giving USA). https://www.nptrust.org/philanthropic-resources/charitable-giving-statistics/

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