Ah, the giving season is upon us - the best time of the year to be an American.According to Giving USA 2017: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2016, American giving rose to $390 billion last year - a 3 percent increase over the prior year.Americans give around 3 percent of our collective income to charity - more than the citizens of any other country. Better yet, these are individual Americans, not the government, who are generating the lion’s share of the contributions.According to the National Philanthropic Trust, the vast majority of U.S. citizens donate to charity - and 91 percent of high net-worth households do. Though most of the contributions come in small amounts, the average household contribution equals $2,520 - no small amount of generosity.Giving USA says individual Americans gave an estimated $281.86 billion in 2016 - an increase of 3.9 percent over the prior year.