Giving USA 1995 vs. 2025: What do we do now?

Giving USA released Giving USA 2025: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2024 earlier this week, revealing that US charities received $592.5 million, up 3.3%*, with growth in almost all charitable sectors.

At Washburn McGoldrick we closely monitor giving trends in education, which saw strong 9.9%* growth in 2024. Most of our clients feel they will reach their FY2025 fundraising goals by the end of this month. But these advancement leaders temper their enthusiasm with concerns about the second half of 2025, citing uncertainties from federal funding cuts, the impact of tariffs, the divisive political climate, and budget cuts to their programs. Rasheeda Childress posed an important question in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, “Is the good news from ‘Giving USA’ momentum for 2025?”

As Washburn McGoldrick marks our 30th anniversary, we look at two key indicators from Giving USA 2025 versus Giving USA 1995 and propose several practical suggestions for the remainder of 2025:

Giving to Education: Giving USA 1995 reported $16.72 billion in gifts to higher education in 1994, versus $88.4 billion last year. When adjusted for inflation, giving to education has increased significantly: 3 ½ times higher than 30 years ago. Despite declining confidence in higher education, well documented over the past decade, a June 2025 Vanderbilt University poll found bipartisan support for the value of a college education, with 76% finding it important or very important.
- In the months to come in 2025, focus on meaningful ways to engage your alumni and reinforce the value of the education your institution provides.
- Take advantage of CASE’s Alumni for Higher Education toolkit to educate and activate your alumni.
- Show donors how to address issues they care about through gifts to your institution.
Growth in number of non-profit institutions: In 1994, the US had 579,384 non-profit institutions. This year’s Giving USA reports the latest available figures at more than1.5 million, nearly three times as many as 30 years ago. At our annual client conference earlier this month, advancement leaders agreed that one of their biggest concerns was hiring and keeping well-qualified candidates. Staff recruitment and retention has been a perennial issue for advancement leaders for decades. But the competition now is fiercer than ever.
- Do your part to promote the profession as an exciting and fulfilling career choice.
- Encourage mission-focused people leaving government service to come work in advancement.
- If your professional-development budget is strained, find creative and often inexpensive in-house ways to ensure all staff learn something new this fall.
- Investigate ways to complement your staff with new options for digital labor. Our firm is proud to start our fourth decade as fundraising counsel for the Virtual Engagement Officers powered by Givzey.