“The only good thing about this pandemic is that it’s made people care a little bit more about their neighbors,” said Christopher Ivey, director of marketing for Forgotten Harvest, one of the largest food banks in Michigan, according to a Reuters report.

With more than 20 million Americans relying on unemployment benefits, hunger and poverty are rising, but so is the outpouring of donations to local food banks, crowdfunding campaigns, and other aid to financially devastated Americans, according to analysis by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), which tracks nearly 2,500 groups. Donations to some small and mid-sized charitable organizations were up 7.6% in the first nine months of 2020 over 2019, and the number of donors was up by 11.7%.

Further, based on the massive response to GivingTuesday (Dec. 1), the trend seems to have continued in December, typically the most active time for charitable giving in the United States. “People are giving like we’ve never seen before,” Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer for GivingTuesday, told the AFP.

Much of that giving is coming in small-dollar amounts, suggesting that people across the income spectrum are stepping up their contributions, Rosenbaum said. About 70% of the donations made to campaigns on GoFundMe were under $50 for 2020, up from 40% in 2019, according to a spokesperson for the fundraising website.

These findings are similar to other polls cited by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. It reported that new donors to food banks were up 579% when comparing the first three quarters of 2020 against the same period in 2019. In another study, 36% donors said they planned to give more generously in December 2020 than they did the previous December.

Meanwhile a December study of 629 donors sponsored by BBS & Associates and conducted by the nonprofit researchers at Campbell Rinker confirmed that the global pandemic continues to challenge financial support for Christ-centered ministries. Even through many donors to Christian charities said they planned to keep their giving “the same” in 2021, their 2020 levels of giving are lower than they were two or three years ago.

The study also found that the share of donors who say they expect to give the same or more in 2021 vs. 2020 is higher at 67% compared to donors who said they would give the same or more in 2020 vs. 2019 (61%). In all, 17% of donors expect to give more in 2021 compared to 2020.

Aside from improved finances (the most common reason for giving more), 3 in 10 donors feel that freedom from COVID-19 concerns would be most likely to increase their charitable giving in 2021 (31%). Nearly the same proportion (28%) said lower taxes would help them give more, while a quarter (26%) said they would give more if they felt confident in their good health. Just under a quarter (23%) said they would feel better about giving more if they had confidence in federal leadership and/or government action or felt unlimited personal growth opportunities (22%). Younger donors tend to express each of these sentiments more strongly than older donors.

Apart from financial distress (the typical reason for giving less), concerns over increased taxes lead all other reasons for reduced giving in 2021. This was cited by 28% of donors and a significantly higher 35% of conservative donors. Following this is a fear of contracting COVID-19, shared by 27% of donors overall and a significantly stronger group of younger donors (33% of Millennials feel this concern and 28% of GenX donors, compared with 16% of Boomer and older donors — who, paradoxically, are at greater risk of severe illness).

On an optimistic note, one question asked people’s commitment level to giving. Christian donors were significantly more likely to see giving as an essential activity, saying it would be among the last to go for them.