Giving to military and veterans groups reached $4 billion in 2024, Indiana University index finds

Direct philanthropic giving to organizations that serve service members, veterans, their families and caregivers reached $4 billion in 2024, a 5.9% increase from $3.8 billion in 2023, according to research the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy released on October 22, 2026.

The figures come from the 2026 update of the school’s Military & Veterans Community Index. The announcement says the subsector’s share of total U.S. charitable giving held steady, meaning giving to the military and veterans community grew in step with philanthropy as a whole rather than outpacing it.

Where the money went

The largest share went to “General Veteran Services,” a broad category for organizations not assigned a more specific mission. The school notes that it is not a specific type of service.

A small number of large organizations drove much of the 2024 increase, the school said, naming Wounded Warrior Project, Veteran Tickets Foundation and United Service Organizations. That concentration matters for how the numbers are read. The school warns against reading a one-year rise or fall in any mission category as a change in donor priorities. Such swings, it says, can come from a single big campaign, donated goods and services, the way organizations report, or a recovery after an unusual year.

Fewer organizations

The number of organizations in the index fell from 39,716 in 2023 to 39,535 in 2024. The school attributes the drop to a long-running fall in the number of local posts of groups such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, which has continued even while donations held up. It adds that in the past five years the subsector’s finances have started to move more like those of the nonprofit sector as a whole, a change from earlier findings.

How the index is built

When the index was launched in November 2025, the school said it covered public charities under section 501(c)(3) whose main purpose is serving the military and veterans community, plus organizations exempt under sections 501(c)(19) and 501(c)(23), and that it tracks the support they receive from individuals, foundations and corporations. That first edition found the subsector’s share of total U.S. giving had stayed between 0.6% and 0.7% from 2013 to 2023. It was funded by Google.org.

The full 2026 report is available on the university’s ScholarWorks repository.

What it means for fundraisers and donors

For nonprofit leaders, the school’s advice is to benchmark: as the number of organizations shrinks, groups can compare their fundraising, revenue, expenses and staffing with similar organizations by mission focus, size, geography and type. For donors, the index shows how wide the needs are, from survivor care and memorializing to mental health, housing, and employment and transition, and why a single year’s jump in one category should not be read as a lasting trend.