Giving Reached $617 Billion.

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As members of the Giving Institute, Stillwater Strategy Partners receives privileged access to its annual Trends in Giving report. If there’s one core takeaway from the 2025 report, it’s this: generosity is resilient, but preparedness determines who benefits most from it.

We hope the data and this Insights article helps you reflect, prioritize, and move forward with confidence, because the opportunity to build lasting momentum is very much within reach.

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy summary of Giving Institute’s 2026 Trends in Giving Report offers a striking headline: “U.S. Giving Hits $617B. Has Great Wealth Transfer Begun?”

Face value, the number is encouraging. Giving rose by 5.7 percent (or three percent adjusted for inflation), and bequests surged by nearly 20 percent from 2024, despite economic uncertainty, political turbulence, federal funding shifts, and a continued rise in demand across many nonprofit sectors. This marks the third time in four years that bequests have seen double-digit increases, potentially signaling the start of the long-awaited "Great Wealth Transfer".

But beneath the headline is a more complex story and, for nonprofit leaders, a more urgent strategic question: are organizations prepared not only to receive generosity, but to build the relationships, systems, and clarity required to sustain it? 

At Stillwater Strategy Partners, we believe this is the work of strategy: helping organizations understand the landscape around them, clarify the future they are building, and create the relationships and systems needed to move from opportunity to action.

A strong year, with important signals: what nonprofit leaders should be asking

A $617 billion giving year is worth celebrating. It reflects generosity at scale and reminds us that people continue to care deeply about the causes, communities, and institutions that shape our shared future.

According to the report, giving increased across all major donor categories. Donors continued to show up. Institutions continued to invest. Families, foundations, corporations, and individuals all played a role in sustaining the work of organizations serving communities across the country. 

Several cause areas also saw meaningful gains, including education, public-society benefit organizations, and environment and animal-related nonprofits. At the same time, giving to some areas remained relatively flat or declined slightly, reminding us that national growth does not always translate evenly across sectors, regions, or organizations.

One of the most closely watched findings was the nearly 20 percent increase in bequest giving. This marks another strong year for planned and estate-related giving and may point to the early stages of the long-discussed Great Wealth Transfer, the generational shift of assets from older Americans to their heirs, communities, and charitable causes, with an estimated $84 trillion expected to pass from baby boomers over the next two decades. 

Even so, the increase in charitable giving should not lead to complacency. Rather, the 2025 giving data should prompt nonprofit leaders and boards to ask several important questions:

• Are we prepared to talk with donors about legacy, not just annual support?
• Do we know which of our donors may be ready for deeper conversations about planned giving, major gifts, or long-term investment?
• Is our case for support clear, current, and compelling?
• Are we too dependent on a small number of donors, grants, or funding sources?
• Do our board members understand their role in building a culture of philanthropy?
• Are we communicating impact in a way that reflects both community need and organizational credibility?
• Do donors see us as prepared for the future?

These are not simply development questions. They are strategy questions. They connect fundraising to governance, communications, program priorities, financial planning, and organizational identity.

The Great Wealth Transfer may be beginning. 

Major giving may continue to shape the philanthropic landscape. Donors may keep responding to urgent and hopeful calls to action. But thoughtful action will determine who can meet the moment.

And meeting the moment starts with understanding of the current state of philanthropy and developing plans to inspire donor giving.

For nonprofits, the opportunity ahead will belong to organizations that are confident and ready: ready to build trust before asking for transformational support, ready to engage donors across generations, ready to communicate with clarity, and ready to align fundraising strategy with long-term organizational direction.

The 2025 giving data confirms what many in the nonprofit sector have long believed: Generosity is not a fleeting response to crisis—it’s a sustained commitment. Donors’ desire to improve the world is deeply rooted and becomes a catalyst for growth.

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Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy, the longest-running and most comprehensive report on the sources and uses of charitable giving in America, is published by Giving USA Foundation, a public service initiative of The Giving Institute. It is researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University Indianapolis.