This year’s Giving USA report captures a year marked by both generosity and uncertainty. While government cuts, humanitarian crises and evolving donor behaviors all influenced giving in 2025, their effects look different across the nonprofit landscape.
Our client strategists unpack the data subsector by subsector to uncover key insights, challenges and opportunities that matter most to fundraisers. Here’s what they think you should know.
Two Nonprofit Subsectors to Watch: Human Services and International Affairs
Giving to Human Services and International Affairs increased again in 2025, but the forces driving that growth and the opportunities for fundraisers were notably different. Both subsectors benefited from heightened urgency, government funding reductions, major philanthropy and expanded giving channels.
Yet their fundraising stories reveal two distinct lessons for the nonprofit sector.
Human Services: Sustained Growth Meets Rising Need
Human Services giving reached an all-time high of $99.5 billion, increasing 5.3% from 2024 and representing 15% of all charitable giving. The subsector has now surpassed Higher Education as the second-largest recipient of charitable dollars for four consecutive years.
Key Takeaway #1: Government funding reductions are accelerating the need for private philanthropy. With many Human Services organizations dependent on government support, funding cuts have created immediate pressure to replace lost resources. The strategic implication is clear: Nonprofits should strengthen their case for private giving before the next crisis.
→ Stelter insight: This is also an important opportunity to engage donors in long-term commitments, including major and legacy gifts.
Key Takeaway #2: Crisis donors must become long-term donors. Emergency needs, natural disasters, food insecurity and funding disruptions can generate substantial short-term giving. But organizations that successfully convert these donors into recurring, annual, major and legacy supporters will build greater long-term resilience.
→ Stelter insight: Strong stewardship and strategic follow-up are essential.
International Affairs: Crisis-Driven Giving Creates New Opportunities
Giving to International Affairs increased 4.1% in 2025, reaching more than $33 billion and accounting for 5% of all charitable giving.
While the subsector has historically experienced volatility tied to global emergencies, 2025’s growth was also influenced by reductions in government foreign assistance and increased philanthropic support.
Key Takeaway #1: Clearly communicate urgency and relevance. Government funding reductions and humanitarian crises can feel geographically distant to many donors. Organizations must clearly demonstrate how funding changes affect specific programs, communities and beneficiaries—and explain why private philanthropy is essential to closing the gap.
Key Takeaway #2: Build a sustainable digital and recurring giving strategy. Growth in online and recurring giving demonstrates that donors are willing to provide sustained support when the giving experience is seamless and compelling. International organizations should optimize mobile giving, recurring giving and DAF opportunities while using direct access to program experts and impact updates to strengthen donor trust.
→ Stelter insight: Discover your roadmap to building trust here.
A Strategic Opportunity
The common thread across both subsectors is that crisis-driven generosity creates the greatest long-term value when organizations have strategies ready before the crisis occurs. Human Services and International Affairs fundraisers should build stronger private philanthropy programs, deepen donor relationships, optimize digital and DAF giving, and make a compelling case for sustained support, including legacy giving, before urgency becomes emergency.
Health: Philanthropy Steps Up to Bridge Gaps, But Is It Enough?
Health giving reached an all-time high of $61.4 billion, increasing by 6.1% from 2024and representing 9% of charitable giving in 2025.
In the face of federal shutdowns, reductions in government funding, grant freezes, stop-work orders and new laws reducing access to healthcare, it’s encouraging to see this upward trajectory continue. And yet we know that many health organizations are still operating on slim margins.
Philanthropy remains essential to ensure both current operations and future innovation continue across the Health subsector.
Key Takeaway #1: There are many paths to generosity, and diversification builds resilience. In 2025, mega-giving declined significantly, but other channels and gift levels demonstrated strength, such as planned gifts, peer-to-peer programs and events, and online giving and retention. This reinforces the need for organizations to cultivate broad donor pipelines.
→ Stelter insight: It’s a critical time to shift more attention toward estate planning and gifts of assets, as cash contributions have become harder for some donors to make.
Key Takeaway #2: Strategic investment is key. In this challenging environment, demand for healthcare is increasing, while the supply of programs and services is decreasing. Now is not the time to ignore staffing, infrastructure and donor engagement. The report advises that organizations that align team size, institutional scale and fundraising strategy continue to achieve the strongest performance outcomes.
→ Stelter insight: With our health clients and across all subsectors, The Stelter Company is grateful to be part of strategic investment in planned giving. We’re honored to partner with you to support this essential work.
Religion: The Largest Recipient Sector
In 2025, giving to Religion grew 2.4% to $151.58 billion but experienced a flat decline of 0.2% when adjusted for inflation. Since 2005, religious giving has only grown 1% when adjusting for inflation.
Religion remains the largest recipient sector, accounting for 23% of total charitable giving. That’s a significant share, although it represents a substantial shift from 1985, when religion accounted for 53% of total giving.
One reason for this downward shift is religious disaffiliation. Although religious affiliation in the U.S. remained stable from 2024 to 2025, religious disaffiliation has continued to increase since 2013. But there’s hope: According to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, 38% of surveyed churchgoers began attending their current congregation within the past five years.
Key Takeaway #1: Religiously affiliated donors are highly engaged. Religiously affiliated donors are more engaged, more loyal and more likely to increase their giving. Donor retention rates in faith-based organizations are higher than other subsectors—61.3% in comparison with 54.7%, respectively.
Key Takeaway #2: Direct mail works. Direct mail is highly effective with religious donors: 86% of religiously affiliated donors respond to it, and 25% are prompted to give online as a result.
→ Stelter insight: A compelling cover letter can help turn this strong channel into an even more effective fundraising opportunity.
Environment/Animals: Donors Step Up When Funding Is Cut and Disrupted
Contributions to environmental/animal organizations grew 11% from 2024 to $24.57 billion in 2025. Adjusted for inflation, giving to these organizations increased by 8.2%.
Even with this increase, giving to the Environment/Animals subsector is the smallest of the nine major subsectors tracked, representing 4% of total giving.
Responses to federal funding cuts and government shutdowns created immediate needs that donors stepped up to help address, providing critical support when it was needed most. These events also led to an increase in volunteering. And because volunteering can deepen an individual’s connection and affinity with an organization, this increase in volunteer engagement may also create opportunities for increased giving in the future.
Key Takeaway #1: Evaluate your funding mix. More than 60% of revenue from one source is considered a potential risk. Organizations should diversify their funding by building relationships with individual donors, foundations, corporations and major-gift donors.
→ Stelter insight: Planned gifts fit well into this strategy and can provide a valuable, long-term source of support.
Don’t overlook unrestricted giving, either. As we saw during COVID and with recent funding cuts, unrestricted gifts give organizations the flexibility to adapt resources as needs and programs change.
Key Takeaway #2: Words matter and donors need to understand the impact. In planned giving, we know the importance of avoiding “inside baseball” terms when talking to donors about gift types. That same principle applies to conversations with your donors about impact.
→ Stelter insight: When communicating through one-way marketing channels, tell your story in an authentic way. Make sure your mission, programs and impact are clear and easy to understand. Donors shouldn’t need to decipher your message to understand why their support matters.
Education: Navigating Growth, Generational Shifts and Donor Engagement
Education giving reached a historic high in 2025, with $92 billion raised. Even after adjusting for inflation, growth was nearly 9%. Education now represents 14% of all charitable giving, making it the third-largest subsector of philanthropy in the country.
But strong competition for philanthropic dollars means institutions need to clearly demonstrate what donor support makes possible. Compelling impact stories, initiatives and “big ideas” can help donors connect their values and passions to meaningful outcomes that benefit the university, students and society as a whole. Impact is the new imperative, and the opportunity extends well beyond mega-donors.
While transformational gifts captured headlines, growth is happening throughout the donor pipeline. Loyal mid-level donors remain an especially important opportunity for planned giving, reinforcing that long-term relationships, not simply wealth, are key to building a strong pipeline.
Key Takeaway #1: Generational shifts require a long-term fundraising strategy. Older generations continue to demonstrate a stronger level of loyalty and a desire to give back to their alma maters. At the same time, younger donors may be less motivated by traditional institutional affinity and more inclined to direct their philanthropy outside higher education. Colleges and universities will need to capitalize on the strong affinity of today’s older donors while intentionally engaging, demonstrating relevance to and retaining younger generations for long-term fundraising success.
Key Takeaway #2: Relevance and relationships matter across the pipeline. Parents, faculty and staff may be valuable audiences that institutions have historically underleveraged.
→ Stelter insight: Segmenting audiences based on shared identities and affinities can make fundraising more personal and effective.
Additional Insights Across the Giving Landscape
The 2025 data also points to opportunities across other subsectors. In Arts, Culture and Humanities, for example, organizations can think about patrons, members and subscribers not only as audiences but also as potential long-term supporters. In Public-Society Benefit, responsive giving through crowdfunding, mutual aid and emergency-response campaigns can create opportunities for organizations to build lasting relationships with donors.
Arts, Culture and Humanities: Record Giving in a Turbulent Year
In 2025, giving to Arts, Culture and Humanities grew 7.5% in current dollars, reaching $27.3 billion—the highest level recorded for this subsector.
Even with record giving, however, 2025 was a turbulent year for many arts and culture organizations, with major shifts in federal support and significant differences in giving trends across organization types.
Top Takeaway: Arts organizations have distinct cultivation opportunities, such as behind-the-scenes access and artist conversations, that can create a more personal connection to the organization and its work. Used throughout the year, those touchpoints can build the trust and engagement that lead to greater support over time.
Public-Society Benefit: A Growing Share of the Giving Landscape
The Public-Society Benefit subsector saw 11.6% growth in giving in 2025, reaching $72 billion. This category continues to capture a growing share of philanthropy.
One significant contributor is the expanding role of donor advised funds, as giving through large national DAF sponsors is reflected in this category.
2025 also brought significant growth in direct, people-centered giving. Crowdfunding, mutual aid and emergency-response campaigns allowed donors to see an immediate connection between their support and a tangible need.
Top Takeaway: For organizations that benefit from this kind of responsive giving, strong follow-up, transparency and continued engagement can help turn an immediate response into lasting support beyond the moment that first prompted the gift.
Turning Insights Into Action
Across these subsectors, the Giving USA 2026 report points to a fundraising environment where adaptability and long-term thinking are increasingly important.
Organizations may be responding to very different circumstances, but the opportunities are often connected: Understand what motivates your donors, communicate impact clearly, diversify your fundraising and invest in relationships that can endure beyond a single moment of urgency.
What did you think of the report? Does it reflect your experience raising funds in 2025? We’d love to hear your take in the comments below.
For a deeper look at the findings and what they mean for your subsector, watch our webinar and download our slide deck.