OPINION:
The whirlwinds of political turmoil and religious revival that have swept 2025 show no signs of diminishing as the new year approaches. Breathless Americans surely, as a familiar holiday jingle goes, “need a little Christmas right this very minute.”
On cue, the Yuletide season has unfolded with its enduring tradition of gift-giving, a ritual in remembrance of the three Magi who, the Bible says, brought presents to the infant Jesus Christ. Whether fully aware of the truism recorded in the Acts of the Apostles that “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” America undoubtedly could be called “the donation nation.” That’s because from sea to shining sea, Americans love to give, and they give a lot.
Generosity, of course, is not confined to the holiday season, and the breadth of American beneficence is affirmed in “Giving USA 2025: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2024.” The report finds that charitable donations offered by Americans, bequests, foundations and corporations totaled $592.5 billion in 2024, the most recent year of full accounting. By comparison, that display of generosity measured just a smidgeon less than the entire U.S. federal budget in 1982.
Charitable giving by the hundreds of billions did not include the value of all the gifts Americans purchased in 2024 for one another (and sometimes for themselves). During the current Christmas season, shoppers are expected to spend more than $1 trillion, according to the National Retail Federation. Santa Claus should be gratified.
Headlining the 2024 philanthropy report was the generosity of everyday Americans, who reached into their own pockets to donate $392.5 billion to charitable causes, a 5% increase over the previous year. Foundations were next on the generosity list, writing checks to charity totaling $109.8 billion. Bequests followed, with Americans leaving $45.8 billion in their last wills and testaments to organizations they considered worthy of their posthumous support.
Corporations handed over an additional $44.4 billion that otherwise might have enriched their shareholders. (Generosity, of course, is always easier when the money donated belongs to someone else.)
With the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing to fresh heights during 2025, the extra jingle in many pockets means Americans could set new records in the new year.
On a less cheerful note, it is concerning that while the dollar figure of the U.S. public’s donations contains an impressive number of zeros, the percentage of citizens giving to charity is shrinking. The 2025 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy finds that since 2014, the proportion of affluent households (those with a net worth of $1 million, excluding primary residence and/or annual income of $200,000) making charitable contributions has fallen from 91% to 81%.
Among less-affluent households, the percentage that gives to charity declined from 56% to just under half.
It is justifiably said that time is money, and volunteerism is an important means of giving. It has likewise declined, according to the study. The proportion of affluent households participating in volunteer activities dropped from 50% in 2015 to 30% by 2020 before rebounding somewhat to 43% last year. Less-wealthy households recorded a smaller drop-off in volunteerism, sliding from 30% in 2017 to 24% in 2021 and then partially recovering to 28% in 2023. Despite their solid record of generosity, today’s Americans are showing a weakening capacity for maintaining it.
Meanwhile, other nations are coming on strong in the global contest of charitable giving. In addition to the customary donation metrics of money and time, the online resource World Population Review includes the percentage of adults who have helped strangers as it computes its rating of national munificence. For 2025, Indonesia earns the title of the world’s most philanthropic nation, followed by Kenya, Singapore, Gambia and Nigeria. The U.S. ranks a mediocre sixth.
Rather than grumble over their lagging performance on this inventive scale, Americans should applaud nations, some of them impoverished, that share our devotion to generosity. The more helping hands, the better for all. Besides, no nation on earth, even among the most prosperous, can come close to matching the mountains of moola the U.S. shovels into the welcoming arms of worthy causes.
So, if charity-minded citizens feel a pang of guilt for the pleasure of receiving a pile of presents on Christmas morning, they should be consoled by the knowledge that, during the past year, they have given a lot too. As blessed citizens of “the donation nation,” Americans can quietly resolve to give even more in 2026.
• Frank Perley is a former senior editor and editorial writer for Opinion at The Washington Times.
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