Giving Compass' Take:

• Shena Ashley shares three giving trends observed over the course of 2018: asset donations, point of purchase donations, and impact investing alongside philanthropic giving. 

• Ashley reports that donations of non-cash assets grew significantly in 2018. How might your non-cash assets be of use to a nonprofit organization?

• For information on higher education trends to watch for in 2019, click here.

[Urban Institute] noticed three important trends in charitable giving from 2018 that we’ll watch next year and beyond.

1. The share of noncash asset donations is increasing significantly

Noncash donations, which include appreciated assets like publicly traded securities, restricted stock, real estate, private equity, collectibles and artwork, and cryptocurrency, has sharply increased as a share of itemized contributions. The latest available IRS data from 2016 shows that noncash contributions totaled $79.5 billion, or 34 percent of all itemized charitable contributions, an increase from $49 billion in tax year 2014.

2. More giving is happening at checkout

Cause-related marketing at the point of purchase, often referred to as checkout charity … raised more than $441 million, up from $390 million the previous year.

3. Other options for funding social change have not crowded out giving

According to the most recent study on high-net-worth philanthropy by US Trust and Indiana University, among the 7 percent of wealthy donors who participate in impact investing, 68 percent do so in addition to their existing charitable giving.

Read the full article about giving trends by Shena Ashley at Urban Institute.