Giving Compass' Take:

• Martha C. White, writing for TIME, outlines five charitable giving trends that we are likely to see in 2019, including larger but less frequent donations.

• How will trends in gender and giving affect charitable giving as a whole? 

• Read the Giving Compass piece on giving trends in 2018 for comparison. 

Humanitarian crises, natural disasters, disease outbreaks — the needs today as pressing as ever, but the way we give is evolving. Thanks to tax law and technology, along with changing consciousness and shifting social mores, philanthropy experts say there are notable shifts afoot in where, when and how Americans open their wallets to charitable causes.

Here’s what to expect in charitable giving trends in 2019.

  1. Giving bigger donations, but less frequently. Charities and non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, are watching carefully to see if the doubling of the standard deduction under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 changes how — and how much — we give.
  2. Using technology to mobilize support. “We have seen a rise in crowdfunding and peer-to-peer funding,” says Una Osili, professor of economics and philanthropic studies at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
  3. Growing clout of big donors (for better or worse). “What I call ultra-philanthropy is going to continue to expand, as it has been over the last 10 years,” says Paul Schervish, professor emeritus and retired director of the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College.
  4. Investing with a social conscience. “Impact investing is the notion that you can make a difference by investing in a company that has a social mission,” she says. “The idea is that the toolbox is growing.”
  5. Making transparency a key determinant. “Women and donors of diverse backgrounds are taking more of a leadership role in the sector of philanthropy,” Osili says. One key outcome is that donors today are more proactive about asking about where their money is going and what it’s being used to do. “There’s been a lot of momentum around transparency,” Osili says.

Read the full article about charitable giving by Martha C. White at TIME.