America’s Favorite Charities 2021
October 7, 2025 | Read Time: 3 minutes
This interactive table features the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual rankings of charities. We base the primary ranking on cash support received by cause-driven nonprofits (which does not include gifts to donor-advised funds) in 2020. See our methodology, and read related stories.
Cash Support: the total value of charitable contributions of money and stock. This value excludes government grants, donated products, and contributions to donor-advised funds.
Click on a row to see details about each organization’s finances. To purchase the data we collected to compile this report in a form you can use for benchmarking and other purposes, please visit the Chronicle of Philanthropy store.
- All states
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
<!–li id="ecdrop_AL">Alabama</li–>
<!–li id="ecdrop_DE">Delaware</li–>
<!–li id="ecdrop_KS">Kansas</li–>
<!–li id="ecdrop_KY">Kentucky</li–>
<!–li id="ecdrop_LA">Louisiana</li–>
<!–li id="ecdrop_ND">North Dakota</li–>
<!–li id="ecdrop_SC">South Carolina</li–>
<!–li id="ecdrop_VT">Vermont</li–>
<!–li id="ecdrop_WV">West Virginia</li–>
- All categories
- Children and Youths
- Colleges and Universities (Private)
- Colleges and Universities (Public)
- Community Foundations
- Education
- Environmental and Animal Welfare
- Health
- Hospitals and Medical Centers
- International
- Jewish Federations
- Museums and Libraries
- Public Affairs
- Religious
- Social Service
<!–li id="ecdropct_1">Arts and Culture</li–>
<!–li id="ecdropct_6" class="private">Donor-Advised Funds</li–>
<!–li id="ecdropct_14" class="cash">Other</li–>
<!–li id="ecdropct_16">Public Broadcasting</li–>
|
Rank
|
OrganizationState | Category
|
Cash support2020
|
Cash support2019
|
Percentage change
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Way WorldwideVirginia | Social Service | $3,575,007,855 | $3,461,308,023 | +3.3% |
| 2 | Salvation ArmyVirginia | Social Service | $1,831,129,568 | $1,398,294,782 | +30.9% |
| 3 | ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s HospitalTennessee | Hospitals & Medical Centers | $1,638,443,198 | $1,573,212,286 | +4.2% |
| 4 | Johns Hopkins University2Maryland | Colleges and Universities (Private) | $1,521,309,841 | $2,665,589,867 | -42.9% |
| 5 | Stanford University2California | Colleges and Universities (Private) | $1,278,999,179 | $1,084,722,642 | +17.9% |
| 6 | Harvard University2Massachusetts | Colleges and Universities (Private) | $1,219,567,891 | $1,378,967,992 | -11.6% |
| 7 | Boys & Girls Clubs of America*Georgia | Children and Youths | $1,041,616,473 | $971,068,983 | +7.3% |
| 8 | Compassion International*Colorado | International | $992,898,748 | $947,401,020 | +4.8% |
| 9 | Catholic Charities USA*Virginia | Social Service | $949,802,921 | $922,410,662 | +3.0% |
| 10 | Health ResearchNew York | Health | $914,792,938 | $357,690,804 | +155.8% |
| 11 | University of California-San Francisco2California | Hospitals & Medical Centers | $824,295,774 | $620,756,327 | +32.8% |
| 12 | University of Washington2Washington | Colleges and Universities (Public) | $772,733,705 | $676,600,066 | +14.2% |
| 13 | Columbia University2New York | Colleges and Universities (Private) | $764,066,893 | $656,437,006 | +16.4% |
| 14 | American Red CrossDistrict of Columbia | Social Service | $756,578,167 | $760,316,121 | -0.5% |
| 15 | Habitat for Humanity International*Georgia | Social Service | $724,009,663 | $717,568,739 | +0.9% |
| 16 | University of Pennsylvania2Pennsylvania | Colleges and Universities (Private) | $705,119,631 | $626,235,186 | +12.6% |
| 17 | Partners HealthCare SystemMassachusetts | Hospitals & Medical Centers | $682,249,778 | $877,872,629 | -22.3% |
| 18 | University of Southern California2California | Colleges and Universities (Private) | $681,091,955 | $687,362,799 | -0.9% |
| 19 | University of California-Los Angeles2California | Colleges and Universities (Public) | $662,533,679 | $685,391,536 | -3.3% |
| 20 | Nature Conservancy*Virginia | Environment & Animal Welfare | $633,000,000 | $503,000,000 | +25.8% |
| 21 | Lutheran Services in America*Maryland | Social Service | $626,212,986 | $780,418,545 | -19.8% |
| 22 | Step Up for StudentsFlorida | Education | $618,153,616 | $714,828,892 | -13.5% |
| 23 | Samaritan’s PurseNorth Carolina | International | $605,136,053 | $439,542,628 | +37.7% |
| 24 | Mayo ClinicMinnesota | Hospitals & Medical Centers | $599,000,000 | $549,000,000 | +9.1% |
| 25 | World VisionWashington | International | $550,602,993 | $541,626,330 | +1.7% |
Notes
* Figures include estimates provided by the organization.
1 Figures are audits or annual reports.
2 Charitable-giving figures are from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Voluntary Support of Education survey. Total Revenue figures are from the Department of Education. For more information on colleges, read about our methodology.
Sources
Research by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Also: the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Voluntary Support of Education survey; the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System; and Internal Revenue Service Form 990 filings.
