Benevity Inc., the leading provider of global corporate purpose software, today announced its annual top charitable causes and giving trends data, which revealed that humanitarian aid for the people impacted by the Israel-Hamas war significantly impacted giving behavior in 2023. In the last three months of the year, support poured in from around the world, with $83.5 million in donations towards providing emergency medical assistance, food and shelter for the people of Israel and Palestine.
Overall, a record-breaking $3.2 billion was donated to nonprofits in 2023 by more than 2.3 million people from 800+ companies through the Benevity platform – a 14% increase over the previous year. More than 265,000 unique causes received donations from Benevity’s clients and their people last year – up 18% compared to 2022, demonstrating the power of corporations in driving giving behavior and purpose-driven actions, despite individual giving being on the decline in recent years.
Benevity is proud to have helped companies around the world leverage technology to rapidly engage employees and customers in giving to trusted organizations that transcend the poles of war and allow people to support people during a difficult time.
— Sona Khosla, Benevity’s Chief Impact Officer
“Unfortunately, a crisis-driven world has become the new normal,” said Sona Khosla, Chief Impact Officer at Benevity. “Support for international and humanitarian crises was profound last year, fueled by natural disasters and a deeply divisive Israel-Hamas war, which displaced the focus on local community support that had been a hallmark of the recent ‘quiet giving’ trend. Benevity is proud to have helped companies around the world leverage technology to rapidly engage employees and customers in giving to trusted organizations that transcend the poles of war and allow people to support people during a difficult time.”
Key Findings
- Donations to nonprofits supporting humanitarian aid for people affected by the Israel-Hamas war surged during the last three months of 2023, with a total of $83.5 million donated to causes that deliver emergency medical assistance and food and shelter support to the region, including Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (ranked 4 vs. 267 in 2022), American Friends Of Magen David Adom (ranked 6 vs. 3,012 in 2022), Magen David Adom In Israel (ranked 15 vs. 70,763 in 2022), Islamic Relief (ranked 9 vs.15 in 2022) and the Palestine Red Crescent Society-Al-Bireh Branch (ranked 17 vs. 13,835 in 2022). Historically, nonprofits delivering humanitarian aid to the region would receive an estimated $1.96 million during the same time frame, representing about a 40-fold increase.
- Causes supporting human rights, food security and health-focused nonprofits, including Planned Parenthood, National/State Cancer Societies, Save The Children Federation Inc. and Second Harvest of Silicon Valley continued to receive high levels of donations and support in 2023.
- Environmental disasters including the Hawaii fires and Turkey-Syria earthquake also drove an increase in donations to causes such as Hawaii Community Foundation, Center For Disaster Philanthropy Inc. and Bridge To Turkiye Fund.
- Six of the top 10 causes from 2022 remained consistent on the list in 2023, including the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Planned Parenthood, UNICEF and World Central Kitchen Incorporated.
In 2023, Benevity also saw 38% growth in grants processed on its platform, with almost $665 million in grants disbursed to nonprofits around the world. Volunteering continued its upward surge in 2023 with a 57% year over year increase in volunteering participation, showcasing how brands and people are coming together to drive social impact in multiple ways.