Business View Civil Municipal - July 2023

21 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 Source- theconversation.com , Scott White, First published June 20, 2023 Charitable giving in the U.S. fell to US$499 billion in 2022, as donors dealt with their losses in the stock market and coped with 40-year high inflation rates. For only the fourth time on record, Americans gave less than they did the previous year without accounting for inflation, according to the newest annual Giving USA report. The research, released by the Giving USA Foundation, in partnership with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, found that total giving fell 10.5% in inflation-adjusted terms, the steepest decline since the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Giving in nominal dollars, without that adjustment, dropped by 3.4%. Giving declined across the board with lower levels of donations from individuals, foundations, the estates of deceased donors, and corporations – when accounting for inflation. As an economist with over 20 years of experience in analyzing this data and two of the report’s lead researchers, we find that three factors lead to these rare results: the comparative strength of giving in prior years, U.S. economic conditions and inflation. Giving to nearly every kind of charity fell in 2022. Giving dropped from a record high Giving in 2021 was even stronger than we first estimated, reaching $517 billion that year, surpassing half a trillion dollars for the first time. This revision was based primarily on updates that the U.S. government makes to tax data – an annual practice. In 2021, individual donors, foundations and corporations were motivated to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. That all-time high US CHARITABLE DONATIONS FELL TO $499 BILLION IN 2022 AS STOCKS SLUMPED AND INFLATION SURGED OPENING LINES