[Infographic] The Current and Future State of Nonprofit Philanthropy

No doubt about it, these are challenging times for nonprofits. Revenues for most organizations are flat, government support for the safety net has been singled out as something we can longer afford (or are no longer willing to pay for), competition for limited resources is increasing, and demand for services continues to grow.

This week's infographic, courtesy of the online Master of Public Administration program at the University of San Francisco, provides a snapshot of a sector poised between the certainties of the past and, well, an uncertain future. And as someone who has covered the sector for years, a couple of things jump out at me. The charitable-giving-as-a-percentage-of-GDP ratio — 2.1 percent — has been stuck right around there for years, despite the efforts of infrastructure groups, activists, academics, and celebrity philanthropists. Might it inch higher in the future, as millennials enter their peak giving years? It's possible, though there's little evidence to suggest that millennials will be more charitable than their parents and grandparents — and some to suggest that, as a group, their giving will be constrained by worrisome economic trends. The infographic includes an oddly specific intergenerational-transfer-of-wealth range — $22.2 trillion to $55.4 trillion — which suggests to me that there will be a wealth transfer of some kind over the next thirty years, but that no one really knows how much wealth will be passed on, how much of it will end up in university and foundation endowments, or how much will end up supporting the work of faith-based and human services organizations. And the number of charitable organizations in the U.S. cited below — 1.5 million — almost surely is overstated, creating a false impression of a sector that is larger and more robust than, in actuality, it is.

Elsewhere, the infographic underscores the still-significant impact of volunteers and volunteering in American society and hints at the rapid growth of online giving. But don't take my word for it. Have a look and then join us in the comments section below for a conversation about what the infographic gets right, what it gets wrong, and what you would change or add if you could.

 

Comments

[Christine]

Hello, great graphic, would like to have printed and posted it for my team if it was in a printable format.

[Michael Seltzer]

Great infographic!