Does the news cycle drive philanthropy?

Giving Compass --  founded to provide learning resources to donors who want to give with greater impact -- was only a few months old when fires ravaged California and catastrophic hurricanes tore through Texas, Florida and the Caribbean. Donors regularly sought guidance on how and where to give during those initial months and disaster relief and recovery remains one of the site's most-searched topics.

Despite the magnitude of these disasters, they weren’t the only stories Giving Compass helped shine a light on. President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban dominated the news in July. That may explain why “refugees” was our most popular topic that month.

2017 was also the year of the woman. From nationwide marches in January to the #metoo movement on social media, women are finally being heard. And, the philanthropy community is listening. One-third of our human rights content relates to women and girls.

When we looked back at these trends, we wondered if a portion of today’s philanthropy is driven by the news. After all, we live in a world with 24-hour cable news and nonstop social media chatter. But for all the flack the media gets, has it actually helped drive impact-giving toward issues we might not otherwise pay attention to?

We’ll let you decide with our year-in-review infographic:

Giving Compass Year in Review