Annual charitable giving reached another annual record last year, and the bulk of the donations continued to be from individual donors. Of the $383.25 billion given, $264.58 billion came from individuals, according to Giving USA 2016, the annual report on philanthropy for the year 2015. The reasons for the improvement were primarily a good economy and strong pretax profits. In other words, it was a very good year for the rich, and some was downstreamed to charity.

Other trends, according to the report:

Very large charitable donations—categorized here as gifts of $100 million or more—have garnered an increasing amount of attention over the past 10 to 15 years. In 2015, the very large contributions that were publicly announced totaled at least $3.3 billion.

Additionally:

In 2015, the largest year-over-year percentage increase in contributions from sources however, came via grants made by the country’s independent, community and operating foundations, according to data provided by the Foundation Center. It went up 6.5 percent in current dollars, and 6.3 percent when adjusted for inflation.

And:

The Numbers for 2015 Charitable Giving by Source:

• Individual giving, $264.58 billion, increased 3.8 percent in current dollars (and 3.7 percent when inflation-adjusted) over 2014.
• Foundation giving, $58.46 billion, was 6.5 percent higher than 2014 (6.3 percent when inflation-adjusted).
• Charitable bequests, $31.76 billion, increased 2.1 percent (1.9 percent when inflation-adjusted) over 2014.
• Corporate giving, $18.45 billion, increased 3.9 percent (3.8 percent when inflation-adjusted) over 2014 giving.

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