Charitable giving to healthcare organizations rose a healthy 6% last year, or 4.5% when adjusted for inflation, according to the Giving USA Foundation's annual philanthropy report, released earlier this week. The spike in healthcare gifts was attributed to a large number of wealthy donors committing to big-ticket causes, the report said.
Giving USA defines healthcare organizations as those that provide healthcare services, including not only hospitals and physicians' offices, but also organizations that conduct health-related research. Gifts made to further medical research within university systems were also included in the report.
Overall, individuals, corporations and other entities donated more than $335 billion to healthcare in 2013. The industry received about 10% of that, according to the report. Last year marked the fourth straight year of higher charitable giving.