Americans are generous, but 2017 set a whole new record in charitable giving.
Americans gave a whopping $410 billion to charities last year, according to a new report from Giving USA. It’s the first year that charitable giving topped $400 billion.
Aggie Sweeney, chair of the Giving USA Foundation says technology has made cutting a check easier…
“I think it’s really easy now to give a gift of passion, to hear about a cause and want to respond right away. What we found with the natural disasters this past year, including the flooding that happened in Texas and the hurricanes throughout the Southeast, so the GoFund Me sites really saw an increase last year.”
She goes on to say last year’s biggest charitable gifts went to big nonprofit organizations, such as universities, hospitals and foundations. The increase in giving for 2017 was generated in part by increases in the stock market, and those monies funded very large gifts, most of which were given by individuals to their foundations, including two gifts of $1 billion or more.
Sweeney was a guest on McIntyre in the Morning.
Sharon Reardon, KABC News
