Monthly Snapshots from our Analysts
2025
Giving Sectors Over a 40-year Period
March 2025
Charitable giving comes from multiple sources, including individuals, foundations, bequests, and corporations, each playing a role in the shifting giving landscape shown above. Changes in directed philanthropy are influenced by many factors such as economic conditions, global events like pandemics & natural disasters, and shifting social priorities. These trends indicate a broadening in charitable efforts over the past 40 years, with more focus on societal needs beyond traditional religious giving.
Quarterly Current Yields and Average Yield over the Last Ten Years for Private Credit and Public Credit Indices
February 2025
Private credit, or lending by non-bank institutions, has grown significantly in recent years. As banking regulations have tightened and bank lending has declined, businesses in need of capital have increasingly turned to the private markets, which provide not only more flexible underwriting but also more customizable terms. Increased private equity activity, which often requires loans for buyouts, has also driven demand for private lending. Simultaneously, investors in search of higher fixed income returns have been more than willing to provide the funding.
As assets have poured into these strategies, the spread between private credit and publicly traded leveraged loans has declined, reflecting a lower premium offered to investors that are taking on illiquidity and complexity. This tightening of spreads, coupled with significant underwriting differences between funds, highlights the critical role of manager due diligence and risk evaluation in portfolio construction.
Source: https://www.blackrock.com/us/financial-professionals/insights/the-growth-in-private-credit
Percent of U.S. Individual Charitable Giving Going to Private Foundations and DAFs
January 2025
There has been a shifting narrative as to where individuals have been directing their gifting. In 2008, donor- advised funds (DAFs) accounted for 4% of individual charitable gifting versus 13% going toward private foundations. Over the last 15 years, the percentage of individuals gifting to donor advised funds has increased to 27%, whereas charitable gifts to private foundations stayed relatively flat at 14%.
Our comparison of DAFs and private foundations illustrates some of the unique features of each; benefits of the DAF include simplicity of administration as well as tax-free growth of assets. Private foundations may also be interested in this issue of Independent Insights, where we discuss how opening a DAF alongside of the main portfolio can provide spending stability. If you would like to learn more about DAFs and how they can help with your own philanthropic efforts or private foundation’s spending policy, please contact Stephen Link, our Director of Philanthropic Services.
Source: https://inequality.org/article/donor-advised-funds-quarter-of-charitable-giving/
