Americans’ proclivity to give has never been higher after two consecutive years of record-setting charitable donations, according to a report out Tuesday from the Giving USA Foundation and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Researchers estimate charitable giving totals in 2015 soared to $373.25 billion – up about 4 percent from the previous record set in 2014. Bequests and donations from individuals, corporations and foundations all hit never-before-seen levels last year, helping U.S. donations eclipse $1 billion per day for the first time in history.

«If you look at total giving by two-year time spans, the combined growth for 2014 and 2015 hit double digits, reaching 10.1 percent when calculated using inflation-adjusted dollars,» W. Keith Curtis, president of consulting outfit The Curtis Group and chairman of the Giving USA Foundation, said in a statement. «Americans are embracing philanthropy at a higher level than ever before.»

Corporate donations eclipsed $18.4 billion in 2015, while bequests ballooned to $31.8 billion. And charitable foundations – like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation, two of the largest such bodies in the country – distributed nearly $58.5 billion.

But it was individual donors who accounted for the lion’s share – nearly 71 percent – of 2015’s charitable giving. Individuals forked over nearly $264.6 billion to causes and organizations of their choice last year, equating to about $820 in donations for every U.S. citizen, based on the Census Bureau’s population projections.

Individual donations make up more than two-thirds of charitable giving in the U.S. each year. Andrew Soergel for USN≀ Source: Giving USA

The IRS saw average charitable deductions taken on individual tax returns in 2013 hit around $4,400, so it’s clear that many who do give tend to give a lot. Large charitable donations of at least $100 million that were publicly announced last year totaled at least $3.3 billion.

«Each year, gifts of $100 million or more play a significant role for some individual donors and many different types of charities, and they do affect the numbers,» Patrick Rooney, associate dean for academic affairs and research at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, said in a statement. However, he noted that «[p]hilanthropy is quite democratic and always has been – more people give than vote in the U.S. – and $20, $10 and $1 gifts do make a cumulative difference.»

Religious and education-focused organizations and causes received nearly half of Americans’ charitable donations last year. Andrew Soergel for USN≀ Source: Giving USA

Overall, about 32 percent of charitable gifts last year went to religious causes or organizations, while 15 percent were funneled to education programs. Only 3 percent of donations went to environmental or animal-focused causes, while about 5 percent went to arts, culture and the humanities.

That donations have surged of late isn’t terribly surprising, considering Americans’ charitable giving tends to rise and fall with the country’s broader economic performance. The ongoing recovery in the U.S. has resulted in a thriving labor market, modest wage gains, consistently low consumer prices and relatively strong stock market in recent years, allowing households to bring home more money – and eventually dole it out to worthwhile causes.

The graph below shows just how closely charitable giving has followed the country’s broader economic growth in the last several years.

U.S. charitable giving has tracked pretty closely with overall GDP growth in recent years. Andrew Soergel for USN≀ Source: Giving USA, BEA

Interestingly, though, the growth in charitable giving in the last two years has steadily outpaced overall economic output in the U.S. Donations were up 4.1 percent last year and 7.8 percent the year before, while GDP expanded at a more modest 2.4 percent clip in both of those years. Wage growth also has stubbornly hovered around 2 percent over the last few years, indicating Americans have recently begun donating more money than economic conditions would naturally warrant.

«Consider this: Inflation-adjusted total giving grew at an annualized average rate of 3.6 percent [between 2010 and 2015]; meanwhile, GDP growth [hit] an average rate of 2 percent,» Jeffrey Byrne, president and CEO of fundraising consultancy Jeffrey D. Byrne + Associates and chairman of The Giving Institute, the parent organization of the Giving USA Foundation, said in a statement.

It’s worth noting that charitable tax deductions provide plenty of incentive for folks to donate – and that not all money donated through organizations actually ends up benefiting those for whom it’s intended.

But this trend bodes well going forward, considering economic growth is expected to pick up throughout the rest of 2016 after a rough start to the year, and that wage growth is showing no signs of letting up. Though the recovery has been far from perfect or even, consumers are in the best shape they’ve been in for years, which could encourage them to donate even more cash than they did during a record-setting 2015.

«But these findings embody more than numbers – they also are a symbol of the American spirit,» Curtis said. «It’s heartening that people really do want to make a difference, and they’re supporting the causes that matter to them.»