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The Case for US Giving

Why US philanthropy is the right engine for BAHS's next 100 years.

The United States has the deepest, fastest-growing philanthropic base in the world — and real tax incentives that make giving more attractive to individual donors than in almost any other country. Here's the data behind why HAGE is built the way it is.

The Scale of US Giving
$617.2B
Total US charitable giving, 2025
The first time total giving has surpassed $600 billion in a single year, per Giving USA 2026.
$394B
Given by individuals
Individuals remain the largest source of US giving — roughly two-thirds of the total — meaning alumnae donors are tapping the sector's biggest, most reliable pool.
$92B
Given to education, 2025
Education giving grew 11.7% year-over-year — one of the fastest-growing charitable subsectors in the country.
Giving to Women & Girls Specifically

Giving directed specifically to women's and girls' organizations is a smaller, more specialized slice of US philanthropy — which is exactly why a dedicated vehicle like HAGE matters. According to the Women's Philanthropy Institute's 2025 Women & Girls Index, giving to organizations dedicated to women and girls surpassed 2% of all US charitable giving for the first time in 2022 (peaking at 2.18%), settling to 2.04% in 2023 — translating to more than $11 billion given annually to this cause area nationwide.

That's a meaningful, measurable pool of donors who already give specifically to causes like BAHS's — HAGE exists to give US-based Hilarians a direct, tax-efficient channel into it.

A Familiar Name in This Space

Philanthropists at every scale increasingly favor education and girls'/women's causes specifically. MacKenzie Scott — one of the most prolific individual philanthropists in the US — has given more than $26 billion to nonprofits since 2019 through her Yield Giving initiative, with education (particularly under-resourced colleges, universities, and community colleges) among her largest and most consistent priority areas. It's a visible example of a broader pattern: major US donors are actively looking for well-run, mission-clear education organizations to fund — exactly the kind of organization HAGE is built to be.

Tax Incentives for US Donors
$1,000
New universal deduction, 2026
Starting in 2026, even taxpayers who don't itemize can deduct up to $1,000 (individual) or $2,000 (joint) in charitable gifts — widening the pool of alumnae who get a real tax benefit for giving.
84%
More likely to give when matched
Donors are significantly more likely to give when an employer match is on offer — and many alumnae work at matching-eligible US employers.
$2.86B
In annual corporate matching gifts
Employer matching programs already move billions each year — a gap HAGE is built to help alumnae finally access on Trinidad and Tobago's behalf.
Why This Matters for HAGE

US-based fundraising lets HAGE draw on the world's largest, fastest-growing pool of education philanthropy — with real, quantifiable tax incentives that make giving more attractive to individual alumnae donors than almost any alternative. Combined with the specific, measurable market of donors who already give to women's and girls' causes, the opportunity for BAHS is real, current, and growing.

Ready to be part of it?

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Sources
  • Giving USA 2026: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2025 (Giving USA Foundation / Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy)
  • The Women & Girls Index 2025, Women's Philanthropy Institute, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
  • Yield Giving (MacKenzie Scott's public giving record), and reporting from the Associated Press and Forbes, 2026
  • One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025) — universal charitable deduction provisions effective 2026