Philanthropy in the United States is the practice of voluntary, charitable giving by individuals, corporations and foundations to benefit important social needs. Its long history dates back to the early colonial period, when Puritans founded Harvard College and other institutions. Philanthropy has been a major source of funding for various sectors, such as religion, higher education, health care, and the arts. Philanthropy has also been influenced by different social movements, such as abolitionism, women's rights, civil rights, and environmentalism. Some of the most prominent philanthropists in American history include George Peabody, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Herbert Hoover, and Bill Gates.
Statistics indicate the United States is the most generous country in the world over the decade until December 2019.
As of 2023, the majority of charitable dollars in the U.S. went to religion (24%), education (14%), human services (14%), grantmaking foundations (13%), public-society benefit (10%). In 2023, the largest source of charitable giving came from individuals, who gave $374.40 billion, representing 67% of total giving, according to the Giving USA (Giving USA 2024: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2023, a publication of Giving USA Foundation, 2024, researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.)
Colonial era Established and voluntary religion
What would become an American tradition of giving is seen as early as 1630 when Puritan John Winthrop shared a sermon called "A Model on Christian Charity" while on board the ship Arbella. (John Winthrop: Biography as History; Francis J. Bremer; Continuum; 2009) In this sermon, Winthrop shared an ideal that people coming to this new land create a "city on a hill" to serve as an example to others of fulfilling "great responsibilities" like caring for the less fortunate. (http://history.hanover.edu/texts/winthmod.html)
Taxes from local and colonial government supported the established churches in New England, which were Congregational, and in the South, which were Anglican. A much faster rate of growth appeared in entirely voluntary religious denominations, especially the Methodists and Baptists, and among the Presbyterians especially on the frontier. German and Dutch immigrants supported their Reformed churches in Pennsylvania and New York without tax money.Patricia U. Bonomi, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America (1988) online edition
The first corporation founded in the Thirteen Colonies was Harvard College (1636), designed primarily to them train young men for the clergy. A leading theorist was the Puritan theologian Cotton Mather (1662–1728), who in 1710 published a widely read essay, Bonifacius, or an Essay to Do Good. Mather worried that the original idealism had eroded, so he advocated philanthropic benefaction as a way of life. Though his context was Christian, his idea was also characteristically American and explicitly Classical, on the threshold of the Enlightenment. Let no man pretend to the Name of A Christian, who does not Approve the proposal of A Perpetual Endeavour to Do Good in the World.… The Christians who have no Ambition to be [useful], Shall be condemned by the Pagans; among whom it was a Term of the Highest Honour, to be termed, A Benefactor; to have Done Good, was accounted Honourable. The Philosopher [i.e., Aristotle ], being asked why Every one desired so much to look upon a Fair Object! He answered That it was a Question of a Blind man. If any man ask, as wanting the Sense of it, What is it worth the while to Do Good in the world! I must Say, It Sounds not like the Question of a Good man.
Mather's many practical suggestions for doing good had strong civic emphases – founding schools, libraries, hospitals, useful publications, etc. They were not primarily about rich people helping poor people, but about private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of life. Two young Americans whose prominent lives, they later said, were influenced by Mather's book, were Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere.
Ethnic and religious groups Voluntary charitable organizations established by ethnic and religious groups, for their own people, originated in the colonial era and grew much stronger in the 19th century. As assimilation took place most of the European groups merged into a general "American" population; the ethnic charitable societies sharply declined by 1900. Minority ethnic groups and races that did not amalgamate extensively continued their separate operations, as did religious charities into the 21st century.
The Puritans of New England and the Quakers Of Pennsylvania were the pioneers before 1700 in establishing charitable institutions, philanthropic operations, and their own schools. Eventually most of the many religious denominations set up charitable institutions as well as their own seminaries or colleges. The first ethnic group to mobilize served as a model for many others – it was the Scots Charitable Society of Boston, started in 1657. In 1754 the Episcopal Charitable Society of Boston Was oriented toward recent English immigrants. In 1768, the Charitable Irish Society of Boston opened for Irish Protestants. Eventually German and French immigrants set up their own benevolent societies.Walter I. Trattner, From Poor Law to Welfare State (6th ed. 1999), pp. 30–35.Erna Risch, "Immigrant aid societies before 1820." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 60#1 (1936): 15–33. online
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was an activist and theorist of American philanthropy. Franklin espoused a philosophy that each person should give to advance the common good at a level commensurate to his or her means. Franklin also "believed in direct solicitation, asking for a specified amount, asking for gifts based on the giver’s means, asking for the largest gifts first and inviting all potential donors to be part of the project." (American Philanthropy, Robert H. Bremner, Chicago University Press, 1988) He was much influenced by Daniel Defoe's An essay upon projects (1697) and Mather's Bonifacius. Franklin specialized in motivating his fellow Philadelphians into projects for the betterment of the city. As a young tradesman in 1727, he formed the "Junto": a 12-member club that met weekly to consider current issues and needs. One of the qualifications for membership was the "love [of] mankind in general". In 1729 he founded a weekly newspaper the Philadelphia Gazette, and for the next thirty years he used the Junto as a sort of think-tank to generate and vet philanthropic ideas, and the Gazette to test and mobilize public support, recruit volunteers, and fund-raise. His system led to the creation of America's first subscription library (1731), a volunteer fire association, a fire insurance association, (1752 – through fundraising with a challenge grant), the paving and patrolling of public streets, the finance and construction of a civic meeting house, and many others. A world-class physicist himself, he promoted scientific organizations including the Philadelphia Academy (1751) which became the University of Pennsylvania as well as the American Philosophical Society (1743) to enable scientific researchers from all 13 colonies to communicate. Fellow diplomat John Adams reported that in France "there was scarcely a peasant or citizen" who "did not consider him as a friend to humankind."
19th century The new nation had weak national, state and local governments. A strong civil society was built by Volunteers in a culture of collaboration. In 1835, French historian Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about the "peculiar practice" of people in the new American colonies supporting "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of life" in his book "Democracy in America." He said voluntary, charitable giving was a distinct cornerstone of American democracy; and he shared, "Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions constantly form associations…in this manner they found hospitals, prisons, and schools." (American Philanthropy, Robert H. Bremner, Chicago University Press, 1988) He also noted that "voluntary associations" permeated American life, as a distinguishing feature of the American character and culture. Americans, he said, did not rely on others – government, an aristocracy, or the church – to solve their public problems; rather, they did it themselves, through voluntary associations, which is to say, philanthropy, which was characteristically democratic.
Important American philanthropists of the first half of the 19th century ere Gerrit Smith and the industrialist Arthur Tappan and to a lesser extent his brother Lewis.
Capt. Robert Richard Randall
One of the earliest charities formed in the United States still exists today, The Sailors' Snug Harbor, formed by philanthropist Capt. Robert Richard Randall of New York who asked that his estate be used in perpetuity to care for "aged, decrepit, and worn-out sailors". Capt. Randall passed in 1801, but his charity continues to this day to help retired Merchant Mariners across the United States.
George Peabody By the 1820s, newly rich American businessmen were establishing philanthropic work, especially with respect to private colleges and hospitals.George A. Dillingham, The Foundation of the Peabody Tradition (University Press of America, 1989). George Peabody (1795–1869), a merchant and banker based in Baltimore and London, became the father of modern philanthropy. Historian Roderick Nash argues that Peabody was a disciple of Benjamin Franklin, who joined hard work with frugality, punctuality, and a strong public spirit. Peabody was a pioneer, whose success in philanthropy set the standard for American millionaires in a way that was unique in the world. Philanthropy in Europe typically came from old aristocrat families with vast inherited wealth who built palaces and museums that were eventually opened to the public. The American way was for the self-made millionaires to become self-made philanthropists, a model that was perfected in the next generation by Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) and John D Rockefeller (1839–1937). They agreed with Peabody that riches produced a duty to give most of it back to the community through specialized permanent foundations. Peabody was especially imaginative – and relied on his own memories of poverty and self learning to figure new ways to educate and culturally enrich the next generation of poor youth, and thereby promote more equality in American society. Jacksonian democracy promoted equality in politics; he promoted equality and culture through libraries, schools, museums and colleges. He rejected doling out bundles of cash to the poor as a waste of money in comparison to building permanent institutions that produced a steady stream of benefits. His last great benefaction was the Peabody Education Fund, which had a dramatic impact in improving southern public schools. It was the first major philanthropy that gave large sums to very poor Blacks on the same terms as whites, albeit within the strict limits imposed by Southern culture regarding racial segregation and white supremacy. Even more important was the institutional framework that Peabody devised, of a permanent professional foundation, run by experts in philanthropy, who were guided by and indeed invented the best practices of the day.Roderick Nash, "Peabody, George," in John A. Garraty, Encyclopedia of American Biography (1974), p. 841.Franklin Parker, "George Peabody's Influence on Southern Educational Philanthropy." Tennessee Historical Quarterly 20.1 (1961): 65–74. Online
Jewish philanthropy