With all the negativity we face daily, I wanted to share a “feel-good” chart this month.
The Giving Institute has released annual reports for the last 70 years and year after year, these reports have continued to show that Americans are generous with their time and money. The United States routinely scores in the top five countries globally when considering the percent of adults who donated money, volunteered with charities, or helped a stranger within the prior year. In 2024 alone, Americans gave nearly $600 billion to charity. On an inflation-adjusted basis, this ranks second only to 2021!1
While Americans have always been generous toward many causes, there has been an observable shift in how we are donating. Americans have become more strategic and tax-wise in the methods and vehicles they utilize for gifting. In the last 20 years, charitable giving through foundations has more than doubled, increasing from 9% of total giving to over 19%.2,3 Individuals who do not utilize foundations increasingly use Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) to amplify the effectiveness of their charitable giving. Over the last 15 years, contributions into these vehicles have grown from 9 billion dollars to around 60 billion dollars.4
Why does this matter?
Both foundations and donor advised funds allow for appreciated assets, like stock positions which have appreciated in value, to be donated instead of cash. In many cases, this generates the same tax deduction as a cash gift while eliminating the potential capital gains tax that would otherwise have been due if you simply sold the gifted position. Depending on a taxpayer’s other itemized deductions, it’s possible to strategically frontload, or “bunch,” more than one year’s worth of charitable gifts to a DAF into a single tax year which may provide potential tax advantages depending on individual circumstances. Another benefit of Donor Advised Funds is enhanced flexibility and control over the timing of gifts to charity. Once the charitable gifts (securities and/or cash) are in the Donor Advised Fund or foundation, grant requests may be made to multiple chosen charities in whatever amounts desired and over as many years as the donor chooses. We would encourage you to consult your tax advisor for guidance specific to your situation.
At Foster Group, we love generosity so much that it’s found within our vision statement: “We encourage lives of meaning and generosity for our team, our clients, and our communities.” In addition to loving charitable giving, we also love encouraging tax-wise giving methods for our clients. If you’d like to talk about how different gifting strategies fit into your personal financial plan, give us a call.
1. https://www.axios.com/2025/06/25/charitable-giving-donations-rise-2024?utm_source=chatgpt.com, slide 11
2. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R42595#
3. https://www.nptrust.org/reports/daf-report/
4. https://visionaryphilanthropy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/VPC-GUSA2025_report-2025-06.pdf
