After months of a pandemic, lockdowns, and civil unrest, it’s easy to lose heart in the state of the nation. But the Treasury Department on Friday announced the release of a study that should remind the public that the country is a fundamentally good and decent place and that their countrymen are fundamentally good and decent people.
In 2019, before the coronavirus, you may recall that the United States was enjoying its strongest economy in a generation. Last year, it turns out, also marked the third year in a row in which the public set a new record for charitable contributions.
Every year, the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy publishes a report on charitable giving. This year’s report found that in 2019, the public gave $450 billion in philanthropy. Individuals accounted for 69% of all U.S. charitable giving, giving nearly $310 billion, a 5% increase over the previous year. The fastest-growing type of charitable giving came in the form of corporate contributions. These came to $21 billion, a 13.4% increase over 2018.
Among the most popular beneficiaries were charities tied to religion (29%), education (14%), human services (12%), and health (9%). Charitable giving rose in nearly every category.
It is impossible to know at this point how badly charities are faring amid the coronavirus carnage and recovery. Nor is it possible, in these divisive times, to get people to agree on exactly what sort of charities best serve the common good. But the data for 2019 do illustrate that when the economy is booming, people do not fail to give back, and thus everyone benefits. Among other things, groups that benefit society share in the overall prosperity.
This should all serve to debunk the zero-sum thinking of those who assert, without any historical reference or evidence, that the rich simply get richer while the poor get poorer or that economic boom times leave most of society behind. This is not so. The U.S. remains a nation where those who work hard and make good choices not only can succeed but also feel an appropriate obligation to give back.
This also reinforces the commonsense idea that a rising tide lifts all boats. A strong stock market and a booming economy carry with them benefits that reach much more widely than one might expect.
Not only did the 2019 economy benefit the working class and bring with it pay raises, but it even prompted individuals and businesses to be more generous with the money they made. A strong economy is good for charities that benefit every level of society, whether that benefit comes in the form of food for the homeless, clothing and jobs for the poor, or artistic and cultural enrichment.
For all of the appropriate introspection about the flaws and sins involved in this nation’s founding, it pays to remember, on occasion, that there’s more to the U.S. than police shootings, rioters, and the increasingly bitter rancor of political social media.
Americans remain a truly exceptional and good people in many ways, as their voluntary gifts to civil society organizations remind us.
