Giving USA’s 2026 report, released June 23, puts total US charitable giving in 2025 at $617.20 billion. That is the first time the figure has crossed $600 billion. It is up 5.7% in current dollars and 3.0% after inflation.
The headline is a record. The details matter more for anyone deciding where their own dollar should go.
Who gave
Bequests, meaning gifts left in wills, grew fastest: up 19.7% in a single year. Individual giving grew 4.1% in current dollars, or 1.4% after inflation, which is roughly flat. The record year was carried by estates and by a strong stock market inflating the assets people give from, not by more households giving.
Where it went
| Cause | 2025 total | Change (inflation-adjusted) |
|---|---|---|
| Religion | $151.58B | -0.2% |
| Human services | $99.50B | +2.6% |
| Education | $92.01B | +8.9% |
| Gifts to foundations | $79.05B | -18.3% |
| Public-society benefit | $72.06B | +8.7% |
| Health | $61.43B | +3.3% |
| International affairs | $33.02B | +1.4% |
| Arts, culture, humanities | $27.31B | +4.7% |
| Environment and animals | $24.57B | +8.2% |
Two lines stand out.
International affairs got $33 billion, about 5.3% of the total. That category covers everything from disaster relief to global health to development. It is the bucket that funds the programs with the best-documented cost per life saved: malaria nets, seasonal malaria medicine, vitamin A supplements, vaccine incentives. GiveWell’s estimates for those programs run $3,500 to $5,500 per life saved (2022 to 2024 average). Nothing in the domestic categories comes close on that metric, because the cheapest ways to prevent a death simply do not exist in a country that already has clean water, vaccines and a hospital system.
International giving grew only 1.4% after inflation in the same year that US government aid was cut sharply. We cover the size of that gap in a separate piece, but the direction is clear: the category where a dollar arguably goes furthest is the one private donors barely moved.
What this means for your dollar
The Giving USA numbers describe the average dollar. What matters when you give is the marginal dollar: what your next gift buys that would not have happened otherwise.
- Religion and education are the two largest destinations, and both are dominated by gifts to institutions the donor already belongs to. Those gifts are meaningful to the giver, but they are not competing on cost per outcome.
- Gifts to foundations fell 18%. That is money parked for later giving, which is not the same as money spent on programs.
- International affairs is small, slow-growing, and home to the most cost-effective programs with public evidence behind them. If your goal is the most good per dollar, this is where the field is least crowded.
None of this says stop giving locally. It says that if you split your giving, the share you send abroad is the part where the evidence on impact per dollar is strongest, and where the year’s numbers show the fewest other donors stepping in.
Method notes
Giving USA figures are estimates built from IRS data, surveys and economic models, and are revised in later years. “Inflation-adjusted” uses the report’s own deflator. The 5.3% share for international affairs is $33.02B divided by $617.20B.
Sources
Figures come from the cited sources as of the dates shown. Cost-effectiveness estimates change as programs and evidence change; check the source before giving. We are not financial advisers and receive nothing from any charity named here.