Here is a breakdown of philanthropy numbers in the US, with thanks to Mark Grimes via Omidyar.net. Note that the total amount of philanthropy going overseas (which is distributed through the different categories below) is about $20 billion by my estimate, based on work by Susan Raymond and Carol Adelman at the Hudson Institute. ( Note that this does not include an estimated $47 billion in remittances sent by workers in the US to their families and communities aborad, which is another form of private aid - see also Adelman's work).
From the Giving USA 2005 Annual Report
$248.52 billion given, here's the estimated breakdown per recipient organization type
| 1: | religious org, 88.3 billion, 35.5% of total |
|---|---|
| 2: | educational institutions, 33.84 billion, 13.6% of total |
| 3: | health orgs, 21.95 billion, 8.8% of total |
| 4: | human services orgs, 19.17 billion, 7.7% of total |
| 5: | arts, culture and humanities orgs, 13.99 billion, 5.6% of total |
| 6: | public society benefit orgs, 12.96 billion, 5.2% of total |
| 7: | environment/animal orgs, 7.61 billion, 3.1% of total |
| 8: | international affair orgs, 5.34 billion, 2.1% of total |
| 9: | foundations, 24 billion, 9.7% of total |
| 10: | deduction carryover and unallocated giving, 21.36 billion, 8.6% of total |
