US charitable giving surged to record-high $450B last year

U.S. charitable donations surged in 2019, hitting one of the highest levels on record before the coronavirus pandemic struck American workers and businesses, according to a new report released this week.

Individuals, bequests, foundations and corporations gave an estimated $449.6 billion to charities last year, according to a report published by Giving USA and researched and compiled by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. That's up 4.2 percent from 2018, findings show.

US BILLIONAIRES GOT $434B RICHER SINCE PANDEMIC STARTED

Giving in 2019 reached the highest level on record based on dollar amount. Adjusted for inflation, total giving was the second-highest on record, slightly below the all-time high notched in 2017.

“The American people are among the most generous in the world,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement Friday. “President Trump’s pro-growth economic policies have provided hard-working Americans with robust opportunities, including the opportunity to give back to their communities, organizations and causes that strengthen our country.”

The increase in donations from individuals, corporations and foundations stemmed from solid economic growth in 2019 and was buoyed by strong stock-market growth, the report said. Giving by bequests was flat last year. Overall, individuals donated more than $309 billion in 2019, an increase of 4.7 percent from the previous year.

TWITTER CEO GIVES $5M FOR CORONAVIRUS RELIEF

"In 2019, we saw solid, broad-based growth in almost all aspects of charitable giving, and especially in giving by individuals due to strong growth in the S&P 500 and personal income,” said Una Osili, associate dean for research and international programs at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

The solid year for charitable giving comes after last year's report found that donations by individuals actually dropped in 2018, in part because President Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which took effect that year, substantially increased the size of the standard tax deduction. Because that deduction was so much bigger, more taxpayers opted for that option in lieu of claiming the itemized deduction for charitable contributions.

APPLE PLEDGES $100B TO FIGHT RACIAL INJUSTICE

It remains to be seen how the coronavirus pandemic affects charitable giving this year.

The massive $2.2 trillion stimulus package signed into law at the end of March included a charitable deduction of up to $300 that taxpayers who choose to not itemize can claim at the end of 2020.