It’s the busy season for charitable organizations as the end of the year comes close. The end of the calendar year is also the end of the tax year, so 501c3 non-profits hope to close out 2023 strong.

Unfortunately, giving trends haven’t been positive for a while. The chart below shows American giving over the last 40 years. While there is some bounce in the numbers over time, you can see that 2022 was a new low, as a percent of disposable incomes. .

A recent analysis shows that overall, absolute giving fell -3.5% in 2022. Adjusted for inflation, that’s a huge -10.5% drop. In that way, inflation is a double-whammy non-profits. Economic uncertainty lowers donations at the same time inflation makes it more expensive to carry out their work. It’s another reason inflation – induced by spending-crazed politicians – is insidiously bad for society.

Historically, the United States has scored among the highest of nations for charitable giving. I’ve always thought that’s something we should be proud of and would like to see continue.

Given how challenging things have been, we’re going to double-check what we’ve given from our own donor-advised fund recently to make sure we’ve adjusted for the last few years of inflation. It seems like the right thing to do before year-end.

Image: Salvation Army