GIVING FUND

“3% to Individuals” in the Giving USA infographic refers to charitable gifts made directly to individual people — not to organizations. This includes things like:

Scholarships and fellowships paid directly to students
Disaster relief funds that distribute cash directly to victims
Hardship grants given directly to individuals in need by foundations or nonprofits
Prize money awarded by charitable organizations

It does not mean regular person-to-person giving like helping a friend or family member. It specifically tracks money that flows through the charitable giving system but ends up going directly to an individual recipient rather than to a nonprofit or institution.

It is actually one of the smaller categories — only 3% — because most charitable dollars flow through organizations rather than going directly to people.

The funds going directly to individuals come from several sources:

Foundations are the biggest source — private foundations and community foundations often have programs that award grants, scholarships, or emergency assistance directly to qualifying individuals rather than routing money through a nonprofit.

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) can in some cases recommend grants to individuals, though this is more restricted and requires the sponsoring organization to approve it.

Charitable Remainder Trusts and Charitable Gift Annuities sometimes pay income directly to individual beneficiaries as part of their structure.

Corporate giving programs occasionally include direct employee hardship funds or disaster relief payments that go straight to workers or community members.

Community foundations frequently run programs like emergency rental assistance, medical hardship grants, or scholarship programs that pay students or families directly.

The key distinction Giving USA makes is that these are still considered charitable dollars — they flow through the formal philanthropic system with tax-exempt status — they just skip the nonprofit middleman and go straight to the person in need. It is a relatively small slice (3-4%) because most donors prefer to give through organizations rather than directly to individuals, partly for tax and accountability reasons.