Nationwide individuals’ charitable giving is by far the largest source of private contributions to nonprofits: in 2010 individuals’ giving accounted for 81% of all private donations, totaling $211 billion. 8% of these donations are from bequests with the remaining 73% from individuals, according to the Giving USA 2011 report that incorporates data from the IRS, issued in June.

Individual giving decreases by almost $650 million 

In Illinois individuals gave almost $6.5 billion in 2009, the fifth highest of all the states in the country in real dollars. Despite the magnitude of that sum, individual giving has continued to decline slightly in recent years. According to the IRS, in 2009 individual giving decreased by $649 million from the previous year and is down over $1 billion since 2007.

Percentage of Illinois Households Giving

Despite the almost $6.5 billion donated in 2009, only 27.7% of Illinois households made a charitable contribution, ranking Illinois nineteenth in the country in percentage of households making contributions. 

The percentage of Illinois households giving fell by 0.8% in 2009 from the previous year and is down 3.4% from 2006.  

Average giving of Illinois households

 On average, Illinois households donated 1.85% of their adjusted gross income to charity. The national average is 2.02%, ranking Illinois 33rd in the country. The percentage of income donated by Illinois households has also decreased consistently from 2.1% in 2006. 

The average contribution per Illinois household was $3,904 (31st in U.S.), with the average contribution ranging from $1,181 for households making less than $50,000 to $14,790 for households making over $250,000.

  ~ Laura Zumdahl, Vice President, Nonprofit Services