📉💔 Americans Tighten Their Wallets: Charitable Giving Tumbles in 2022 Amid Economic Woes 📈💸
TL;DR;
2022 didn’t shower us with the love we expected in the realm of charity, with total donations taking a 3.4% hit, shrinking to $499 billion 😬. This comes in the wake of inflation rates hitting a 40-year high 🎈 and the stock market experiencing a slump 📉. But hold up, did you know that this is only the fourth instance in the last 40 years where our generosity dropped from the previous year? Intriguing, isn’t it? 🤔
Full Story:
Feeling a little stingy, were we, America? 👀 2022 did a number on our giving spirits, as we saw charitable donations dwindle amidst surging inflation and a sullen stock market 📉. Not even Santa’s elves could save the day, with the S&P 500 plummeting just around the holiday season, the time when traditionally we’re at our most generous.
Charitable giving slumped to $499 billion, a 3.4% dip from 2021’s record-breaking donation bonanza 🎉. It wasn’t all Scrooge McDuck though, six noble souls (and couples) stepped up to the plate, coughing up nearly $14 billion 🤑. That’s almost 5% of individual donations – not too shabby for a handful of people, eh? 👏
But wait, it wasn’t always this way 🙅♀️. Flashback to 2021 when charitable contributions topped half a trillion dollars for the first time in history, partly driven by a thriving stock market 📈. It seems we had the energy to tackle everything from the Covid-19 pandemic to the economic crisis and racial justice 👊.
What happened in 2022 then? 🤷♂️ Well, individuals, the primary source of charity, dialed down their donations, even before inflation had a chance to show up at the party. Foundations, corporations, and estates all followed suit, leaving the charity landscape a bit parched.
Still, there were some winners among the losers. International affairs and foundations saw their coffers swell after adjusting for inflation, with a spike in donations likely linked to the support for Ukraine 🌍. But the luck didn’t spread far, with contributions to sectors such as religion, education, human services, health, and the arts, all taking a hit after adjusting for inflation 💔.
“Charity falls, and hearts get heavy,” as Amir Pasic, the school’s dean, puts it. He brings up a good point. Declines in giving in 2022 hit non-profit organizations the hardest. It’s like the double whammy of inflation’s nasty effects – increasing costs of goods and high interest rates throughout 2022, and it seems these challenges aren’t going away anytime soon 🌧️.
Here we are, folks, in 2023, and the question lingers – will we open up our wallets more generously this year, or will we continue to feel the ripple effects of the economic blues from 2022? 😟 Let’s not forget, it’s the smaller donations that often keep charities afloat. So, are we going to let the big boys steal the spotlight, or are we going to rally and make every dollar count? 🤔 Over to you, America! 💪
Disclaimer: This news article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or an endorsement of any particular course of action.
