Indicator

Charitable Giving for Humanities Activities

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Given the comparatively limited financial support for the humanities from the federal government (see, for example, the indicator on funding for humanities research), a substantial share of funding for humanities work comes from private sources. There is no national source for data on giving for humanities activities specifically, but data on the broader category of arts, culture, and humanities (ACH) organizations show substantial growth in charitable giving for these activities over the past three decades. Such support fell substantially after the economic recession that started in 2007, with giving to ACH organizations not returning to its prerecession level until 2012 (in inflation-adjusted terms).

Findings and Trends
Findings and Trends
  • In 2017, giving from corporations, foundations, and individuals to ACH organizations reached $19.5 billion—the highest level on record, in inflation-adjusted dollars (Indicator IV-15a). According to a recent Giving USA report, many ACH organizations launched large-scale fundraising campaigns in 2015.1
  • Donations from charitable sources to ACH organizations increased almost 250% from 1985 to 2000 (rising from $4.3 billion to $15 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars) and then, after a modest decline, experienced another surge up to $17.6 billion in 2007. With the recession came a sharp curtailment of charitable giving to these organizations, with donated monies declining 21% (to $14.0 billion) in 2008—a much steeper drop than for charitable giving generally (7.2%).2
  • In recent years, the growth in charitable giving to ACH organizations has outpaced the growth in giving to all organizations. From its recent low point in 2011 to the year 2017, giving to the humanities rose almost 40%, while overall giving increased only about two-thirds as much (26%).
  • In 2017, ACH organizations’ share of all gifts reached 4.8%, the highest recorded level over the time period beginning in 1985 (when ACH giving represented only 2.6% of all charitable giving).

Endnotes

  • 1Indiana University, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Giving USA 2018: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2017 (Chicago: Giving USA Foundation, 2018), 249.
  • 2See Supporting Table IV-7 for information regarding total giving.

IV-15a: Individual, Corporate, and Foundation Giving to Arts, Culture, and Humanities (ACH) Organizations, Total and as a Percentage of All Charitable Giving, 1985–2017 (Adjusted for Inflation)

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Data Source and Other Information

Source: Indiana University, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Giving USA 2018: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2017 (Chicago: Giving USA Foundation, 2018). Giving USA is a public service initiative of The Giving Institute. Data presented by American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (humanitiesindicators.org).

About the Data

Little information is available on charitable giving to the humanities. The Giving USA Foundation, a research organization that publishes data and information on trends in charitable giving, documents charitable support for an array of sectors—including “arts, culture, and humanities organizations.” Unfortunately, this category encompasses a range of activities (such as the performing arts) that are not within the scope of the humanities as conceptualized for the purposes of the Humanities Indicators. These data also exclude other key humanities activities (such as humanities education, which is tallied in an undifferentiated “education” category). Nonetheless, data from Giving USA provide the closest available approximation of the extent of charitable giving for humanities-related projects.

Related Indicators

For information regarding federal funding for humanities activities, see “National Endowment for the Humanities Funding Levels,” “Distribution of National Endowment for the Humanities Program Funding among Activity Types,” and “Beyond NEH: Other Federal Support for Humanities Activities.” For indicators dealing with nonfederal funding for the field, see “Foundation Funding of Humanities Activities,” “Not-for-Profit Humanities Organizations and Their Revenues: Overview,” “Not-for-Profit Humanities Organizations and Their Revenues: Trends among the Major Organization Types,” and “Research and Development Expenditures at Colleges and Universities.” See also “State Humanities Council Revenues.”

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The Humanities Indicators and Departmental Survey have been made possible in part by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those 
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