This week’s column is a round robin of charitable giving news, grant opportunities and an important conversation for leaders of nonprofits.

Drum roll please… charitable giving in the United States reached a record high of $ 471.44 billion in 2020, a 5% increase from 2019. These totals were released this week by Giving USA, which has tracked total charitable giving in the United States for over 60 years. and is a collaborative effort of the Giving USA Foundation and Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy.

The results come from an analysis of IRS tax data for 128 million US households as well as other surveys. It provides a comprehensive overview of how donors large and small have responded to the economic crisis, racial unrest and the global pandemic.

Donations from individuals, the largest source of charitable giving, stood at $ 324.10 billion, representing about 69% of total donations, a 2% increase. Foundation donations amounted to $ 88.55 billion, representing 19% of total donations, an increase of 17%. Many foundations have dug deeper into their reserves to make grants last year.

Corporate donations totaled $ 16.88 billion, or 4% of total donations, a decrease of about 6%. This is due to the financial impact of the pandemic on many businesses, which has reduced their ability to donate to charity. Bequests totaled $ 41.91 billion, or 9% of total donations, an increase of 10.3%.

Individual donations and bequests combined account for 78% of all charitable giving. I encourage boards of directors and fundraisers to remember this when deciding where to look for new financial support. While corporate and foundation donations are important, fundraising programs should focus on individuals.

The nonprofits that received the highest percentage of charitable donations were religion (28%), education (15%) and social services (14%), which is comparable to 2019. The changes in donations over the past year include environmental and animal welfare organizations which saw an 11.6% increase while arts, culture and humanities saw a 7.5% decline. Learn more about giveusa.org.

More grants from MacKenzie Scott

In related news, billionaire MacKenzie Scott distributed a third round of unrestricted grants to 286 organizations totaling $ 2.74 billion. This brings his total donations to $ 8 billion in the past 11 months, which is astonishing.

Recipients include leading universities, arts groups, and nonprofit organizations that fight racial injustice and domestic violence. A complete list of recipients is available at mackenzie-scott.medium.com.

Glad to see a lot of them. Scott’s donations are made to organizations that provide sector capacity building support. Capacity building is an investment in the future effectiveness and sustainability of a not-for-profit organization, such as strategic planning, recruiting volunteers, leadership succession, technology investments, training and improvement. measuring results.

Grant recipients include Board Source, Candid (formerly Guidestar), The Bridgespan Group, Giving Tuesday, Center for Effective Philanthropy, Charity Navigator, National Center for Family philanthropy, National Council of Nonprofits, NTEN, Tech Soup Global, Nonprofit Quarterly and Urban Institute. I hope Scott’s example will encourage other funders, public and private, to invest in capacity building and that his generosity will inspire more donations at this level.

Local American Rescue Plan Grants

Speaking of funding, there will be a briefing via Zoom at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 22, regarding the US City of Tallahassee and Leon County Rescue Act (ARPA) grants. Total funding of $ 3 million will be available for nonprofit organizations registered in Leon County. Register at ow.ly/E82150FbRxu.

It is not too late to register for DCI in TLH, a Symposium on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which will take place on Monday, June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon via Zoom. The event is hosted by the Institute for Nonprofit Innovation and Excellence, Council on Culture and Arts and United Partners for Human Services and features keynote speaker Mariama Boney, President / CEO of Achieve More and author of “Vent, I’m Worth It ”. This is a crucial conversation for the nonprofit sector, and I encourage staff and volunteer leaders to attend. Register at http://ow.ly/nptv50EWdBu.

Notes on Nonprofits is produced by Alyce Lee Stansbury, CFRE, President of Stansbury Consulting. Send your comments and questions to [email protected] and tune in every second Tuesday for Notes on Nonprofits Live on Facebook.

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