Many families felt that 2013 was a difficult year. The economy didn’t improve as well as many people hoped and many social safety nets were cut. Many people are struggling more than they have since the beginning of the recession. Fortunately, there may be a silver lining. Philanthropy has also increased over the last year, which offers hope to many families who couldn’t get jobs or can no longer get adequate public assistance.

Philanthropy on the Rise

Wealthier people have become far more generous in the past year. A recent report from the Chronicle of Philanthropy shows that the wealthiest people donated over $3.4 billion. This has been very helpful for many disadvantaged people.

Both the number and size of donations increased substantially in 2013. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy study, donors gave 15 gifts that were each worth more than $100 million. The largest donation came from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who gave away 18 million Facebook shares that were worth nearly a billion dollars.

Educational institutions were among the biggest recipients of these donations. Nike cofounder Philip Knight and Michael Bloomberg both donated hundreds of millions of dollars to different colleges.

Many wealthy people donated money to help provide support for struggling people as well. Philanthropy may play an increasingly important role in the near future. Many people who are suffering from long-term unemployment are very concerned that the UI extension ended at the beginning of the year. Many of them have found other forms of assistance are inadequate and will need to rely on private donations.

Donations from Middle Class Families May Be Important in the Future

Many of the biggest donations came from wealthy philanthropists. However, Stacy Palmer, one of the editors of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, said that these donations may not be sustainable. Palmer believes that one of the reasons that donations increased so much last year was that wealthy donors made so much money from the stock market. There is no guarantee that they will do so in 2014, which may mean that donors with less money will need to fill some of the void.

Many middle class people are struggling as well, but they may be able to still help those in need. Fortunately, there are some ways that they can help others even if they are stretched for cash in this economy. Here are some things that they can do:

• Donate old items that could be sold. Many charities can sell your unwanted items and use the proceeds to help other people around the world. You can even find a charitable organization that arranges pickups for donations if you don’t want to bring it in.
• Consider working with a charitable donor advised fund. You can get great tax breaks using these funds and the money can be spent very efficiently.
• Pool resources with other donors to offer more help to those in need.

Many middle class people said that they want to be more generous themselves in the coming year. There are many ways that they can help out those in need.

About the author: Kalen Smith is a freelance financial, economics and social change writer.  He completed his MBA at Clark University, a school known for a focus on integrating business with social change.