Holiday Spending Up, S&P Up 17%, but Many Americans Say 'Humbug' to Charitable Giving

Despite lingering concerns over inflation, 2025 brought some impressive gains in the U.S. stock market, and consumers spent more money during this holiday season than last year. 

Holiday spending was up by around four percent, according to preliminary estimates from Visa and Mastercard. From Nov. 1 through Dec. 12, online sales rose 6% to $187.3 billion, on track to surpass the outlook for the season, Adobe Digital Insights reported.

And with just three trading days left in 2025, stocks are set to lock in some major gains for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 14%, on track for its strongest annual performance since 2021. 

And the S&P 500 is up more than 17% for the year. The index is on track for its eighth monthly gain in a row. 

Meanwhile, a pre-Christmas AP-NORC poll showed that most Americans had no plans for end-of-year charitable giving, despite the many fundraising appeals made by nonprofits that rely on donations in the calendar’s final month to meet budget targets. 

The survey showed a full 30% of Americans haven't donated to charity at all in 2025 and they don't plan to do so before the year's end. But approximately one-quarter of Americans said they were planning to donate in the last weeks of the year.

Meanwhile, the deadline for end-of-the-year tax deductions for charitable contributions for 2025 is quickly approaching. 

“December 31 does provide a target to make sure that they’ve given what they intended to give before the year is over,” said Dianne Chipps Bailey, managing director of Bank of America’s Philanthropic Solutions division.

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