Every June, the Giving USA report gives the nonprofit sector its closest thing to a State of the Union: a full accounting of how much Americans donated the previous year, and where that money came from. The 2026 edition (covering 2025) just came out, and while the topline number is striking, the details matter more than the headline. Here's what Kitsap nonprofits should take away from it.

The big number

Americans gave $617.2 billion to charity in 2025, an all-time high, up 5.7% in current dollars and 3% after adjusting for inflation. Every major source of giving grew year-over-year: individuals, foundations, bequests, and corporations. That's only happened 10 times in the last 40 years, so 2025 was a genuinely unusual year.

Researchers are careful to note that this growth reflects a wealthier America more than a more generous one. Giving as a share of GDP held flat at 2%, right where it's been for years. The pie grew mostly because the economy did.

The story everyone's talking about: bequests

The single biggest mover this year was bequests, which jumped nearly 20% to $62 billion. That's the largest growth of any giving source in 2025, and the third double-digit bequest growth year in the last four years.

Although a couple of strong years isn't enough data to be certain, the pattern is consistent with something fundraisers have been anticipating for a while: the "Great Wealth Transfer,” where the baby boomer generation, holding an estimated $18 trillion earmarked for eventual transfer, begins passing that wealth to heirs and to charity. The Great Wealth Transfer is just getting started, and organizations that haven't invested in planned giving are being encouraged to start now.

What this means locally for Kitsap Nonprofits

Even small and mid-sized nonprofits can benefit from bequests, and they don't require a major gifts department to pursue. A simple "leave a legacy" page on your website, a mention in your newsletter, or a conversation with a longtime volunteer can be enough to open the door. And through Kitsap Community Foundation’s FreeWill subscription, it has never been easier for Kitsap and Mason County donors to create legacy documents.

Fewer, bigger donors, and giving that moves with the market

Two related trends are worth watching. First, individual giving is concentrating: in 1985, individuals gave 80 cents of every charitable dollar; in 2025, it's down to 64 cents. Everyday donor households have been shrinking for years even as total giving rises. The gap is being filled by larger gifts from fewer, wealthier donors.

Second, giving is increasingly tied to the stock market. The S&P 500 had a volatile but ultimately strong 2025 (down sharply in April on tariff news, then up nearly 40% from that low through year-end), and giving followed the same arc. When portfolios grow, donors give more which is good news in a bull market, but it also means nonprofits that lean heavily on major donors are exposed to more unpredictability than they used to be.

Planned giving is one of the few fundraising strategies that doesn't move with the market, which is part of why it's getting so much attention right now. Investing in mid-level and everyday donors also builds a pipeline that's more resilient over time.

DAFs are having a moment

One of the fastest-growing categories in the entire report was "public-society benefit" giving, up 11.6% to $72 billion, and most of that growth is coming from donor-advised funds. Fidelity Charitable alone granted $18.3 billion in 2025 (up 23% year-over-year) to nearly 227,000 nonprofits, and DAFgiving360 granted $10 billion, its fourth straight year of record-breaking growth.

DAFs are becoming a default vehicle for a lot of donors, especially as more giving shifts toward appreciated stock and other non-cash assets.

It's also a good moment to remind donors that a DAF doesn't have to live at a big national sponsor. Kitsap Community Foundation offers DAFs, and holding one here instead of at a commercial sponsor keeps that philanthropic capital, and the advising relationship around it, rooted in this community. A community-held DAF tends to have staying power: it's built for the donor's giving to continue well beyond any one gift, which supports the long-term health of the nonprofits and the broader communities we all care about.

The next generation is coming — eventually

The same wealth transfer driving the bequest surge cuts both ways: the estates now giving to charity are also making Millennial and Gen X heirs significantly wealthier. Heirs are expected to receive $106 trillion of the overall $124 trillion transfer, and Millennials will be the largest generation of inheritors over the next two decades.

This shift is genuinely important, but it shouldn't take priority over the relationships nonprofits are building with donors right now, as those relationships are what generate the bequests in the first place, and they take years to cultivate. Still, it's worth having an answer ready for the question a lot of boards are asking: how do we keep Millennials and Gen X engaged?

The honest answer is that the giving habit has to be built well before an inheritance ever arrives. That can look like simple things: recurring gift options, clear donor education about what a gift actually accomplishes, and capturing spouses' and children's names in your donor records so today's $25/month supporter isn't a stranger to you if their capacity changes down the road.

Nonprofits, and community organizations like KCF, increasingly have to be the ones teaching the importance of generosity: explaining what a gift actually does, demystifying the different ways people can give (a will, a DAF, appreciated stock, a qualified charitable distribution), and celebrating generosity out loud so it stays visible as a shared community value. This is exactly the kind of work KCF is well-positioned to do at the community level, helping Kitsap residents see philanthropy as a normal, accessible part of life rather than something only wealthy people do.

A few things worth doing this summer

Below are several suggested actions that are easy to act on locally, regardless of your organization's size:

• Make-A-Will Month is in August, and National Estate Planning Awareness Week runs October 19–25. Both are natural moments to send donors a short, no-pressure note about legacy giving, something that plants a seed even if it doesn't convert right away. If you’d like to learn more about Make-A-Will Month and ways your nonprofit can prepare, join us at our Kitsap Center for Nonprofit Excellence event Thursday, July 16, 2026 Promoting Planned Giving to Your Donors and Volunteers. 

• If a donor names your organization in their will, research shows their annual giving to that organization tends to increase too. Legacy conversations aren't just about the eventual bequest. An easy way for a donor to set up estate documents is through Kitsap Community Foundation’s partnership with FreeWill. It is quick, easy and 100% free to donors and your organization!

• Beneficiary designations (on retirement accounts, life insurance, etc.) are worth mentioning alongside wills. They take donors about 10 minutes, don't require an attorney, and are often more tax-efficient than a straightforward bequest.

• If you don't already have a gift acceptance policy covering real estate, retirement assets, or other non-cash gifts, this is a good year to write or update one. It's better to have a plan before a complex gift arrives than after.

  
  

The bottom line

2025 was a record year for giving, driven substantially by a wealthier donor base and a strong market rather than broader generosity. Bequests are the story to watch, and the nonprofit sector is leaning more heavily on fewer, larger gifts channeled increasingly through vehicles like DAFs.

For nonprofits here in Kitsap, the practical takeaway is less about chasing mega-donors and more about building the relationships, planned-giving infrastructure, and donor education that pay off over the next decade, not just this fiscal year. 

And that's precisely where KCF serves as a partner and as a hub for growing a culture of giving across our whole community, from a first-time DAF donor to a family thinking about what they'll leave behind.

Sources: Giving USA 2026: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2025 (Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy); The Chronicle of Philanthropy, "U.S. Giving Hits $617B. Has Great Wealth Transfer Begun?" (June 23, 2026); FreeWill, "A Deep Dive on the 2026 Giving USA Report" webinar (July 7, 2026).