5. Charity trends

The charts and graphs that follow summarize the results of charitable solicitations in 2021 and compare these results to past years.

Bear in mind that charitable organizations use a variety of methods to raise funds to support their missions. The method many people think of first (contracting with a paid solicitor) is used by a relatively small number of charities. This activity is reflected in the charts summarizing the results of solicitation campaigns. It’s important to keep the overall fundraising picture in mind when considering the results of the solicitation campaign reports filed in 2021.

Solicitation Campaigns in Perspective

Number of registered charities (November 23, 2021): 14,518
Number of charities using paid solicitors in 2021: 195
Percentage of all registered charities using paid solicitors, 2021: 1.3%

National giving trends

Source: 2020 Giving USA Report, published by Giving USA Foundation, an initiative of The Giving Institute

Total charitable giving: $471.44 billion in 2020 (5.1% increase since 2019)

Giving by

Individuals: $324.10 billion (2.2% increase since 2019)

Foundations: $88.5 billion (17.0% increase since 2019)

Bequest: $41.19 billion (10.3% increase since 2019)

Corporations: $16.88 billion (6.1% decline since 2019)

Charitable solicitations highlights as of November 23, 2021 (PDF)

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