More Donors Starting Funds Rather Than Giving Directly to Charities

For the first time on record, the nonprofit that received the most in donations in the country is not what you typically think of as a nonprofit—and that has some in the nonprofit sector worried that the new model is upending traditional philanthropy.

Giving accounts allow donors to get an immediate tax benefit when they open an account, but the money can sit in the account indefinitely and can be invested. Local organizations like Austin Community Foundation have offered donor-advised funds for decades, but newer, commercially-based organizations, like Fidelity Charitable—a nonprofit offshoot of Fidelity Investments—have popularized the accounts.

“Donors tell us they like giving accounts for their simplicity,” Matt Nash of Fidelity Charitable said. “They can donate one time and then they can go online and move that money to whichever charity they want.”