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U.S. Charitable Giving Tops $400 Billion

By Gerry W. Beyer

image from https://s3.amazonaws.com/feather-client-files-aviary-prod-us-east-1/2018-06-14/6636f93f-3cc8-43a9-8bff-e382b656097e.pngCharitable giving, comprised of giving to charities by individuals, bequeaths, foundations, and corporations, rose to pass $400 billion in 2017 according to a Giving USA Foundations prepared by Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Both Mark Zuckerberg and Michael Dell donated $1 billion to their respective foundations from their investment returns.

The largest portion of charitable giving, donations by individuals, increased by $14.72 billion in a year to total $286.65 billion for 2017. Increases in the stock market and in disposable incomes are a couple of factors that contributed to the increase. “As people have more resources available, they are choosing to use them to make a difference,” says Aggie Sweeney, chair of Giving USA Foundation and senior counsel at Campbell & Company.

See Fang Block, U.S. Charitable Giving Tops $400 Billion, Barron’s, June 12, 2018.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.) for bringing this article to my attention.

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Current Affairs and Estate Planning - Generally