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Financial Planning > Charitable Giving

It's Giving Season, and Majority of Americans Will Be Charitable

By Michael S. Fischer

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Fifty-eight percent of Americans plan to participate in all manner of charitable activities at year-end, according to a new study from Fidelity Charitable. The participation rate is similar to 2021, when economic indicators were particularly strong.

The study, released on Giving Tuesday, also found that after shrinking during the pandemic, volunteerism and other in-person acts of generosity are expected to increase in 2023.

“Given the impact of inflation and the economy, many nonprofits have been struggling,” Amy Pirozzolo, head of marketing at Fidelity Charitable, said in a statement. “It’s heartening to see that people are not only continuing to give back, they’re increasing their efforts — especially important face-to-face efforts like volunteering.” 

The new data brief is based on a survey conducted by Big Village Insights in October among 1,010 Americans, including 661 givers. Researchers defined “givers” as anyone who had participated in a range of giving activities within the past year: financial donations to nonprofits or individuals, donations of products or goods to nonprofits or individuals or volunteering. 

The survey repeated several questions from a Fidelity Charitable study conducted in 2021 to determine whether attitudes toward the economy, personal financial outlook and giving had changed. 

The study found that 57% of those who plan to make monetary gifts this year will give the same amount as last year, 30% will give more and 13% will give less. Nineteen percent of those planning to give more said they had had an increase in income, and 17% cited an interest in a charitable cause.

Survey respondents said that besides financial donations, they plan to expand the ways they demonstrate generosity at year-end:

  • Faith-based community activities: 31%, up 12 percentage points from 2021
  • Random acts of kindness: 34%, up 9 points
  • Volunteerism: 29%, up 9 points

The survey found that economic concerns are on donors’ minds. Eighty percent of participants said they have considered how the economy may affect their ability to give. Forty-two percent said they had given a lot of thought to this.

Michael S. Fischer

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