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November 06, 2018 at 03:36 PM
(Related: How the Partisan Divide Affects Charitable Giving)
A new study released this week by The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranks U.S. nonprofit organizations by the amount of cash they raised in 2017. It calls this group “America’s Favorite Charities” because, it says, financial donations best measure the public’s support of an organization’s work and mission.
The Chronicle ranked 100 nonprofits by the total value of gifts of money and stock received in 2017, and excluded government grants, donated products and contributions to donor-advised funds.
Chronicle researchers analyzed 100 groups, and were able to establish a fundraising history for 94 whose available records dated to before the recession.
All but 15 raised more total charitable support — both cash and noncash contributions, such as real estate and clothing — last year than they did in 2007, even when figures were adjusted for inflation.
The study found that many of these successful fundraisers had adapted to fundamental changes in philanthropy’s culture and in the economy that influenced how Americans gave, and whether they gave at all.
Check out America’s top 10 favorite charities in the gallery above and the amount of their cash support in 2017.
The DAF Juggernauts
The Chronicle’s ranking excluded contributions to donor-advised funds. But its research showed that these are fundraising juggernauts.
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund received $6.8 billion in private support in 2017, of which 62% was in the form of stocks. Huge sums also went to these DAFs:
- Schwab Charitable Fund – $3.1 billion (of which, 67.7% stocks)
- National Philanthropic Trust – $1.8 billion (47.9%)
- National Christian Foundation – $1.8 billion (28.5%)
- Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program – $1.5 billion (44.8%)
— Related on ThinkAdvisor:
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