Giving With Fidelity Charitable Donor-Advised Funds Rose 27 Percent in First 9 Months of 2014

(Press release, Oct. 23, 2014) — Donor-recommended grants from Fidelity Charitable, an independent public charity with a donor-advised fund program, achieved record levels in the first nine months of 2014. In addition, enhancements to the organization’s program are speeding the delivery of grant money to charitable recipients and simplifying the process for donors to make multiple grant recommendations.
In the first nine months of 2014, Fidelity Charitable made more than 370,000 donor-recommended grants totaling $1.6 billion, a 27 percent increase from the same period in 2013. The grants supported more than 70,000 charities across all 50 states and a wide range of charitable sectors.

The record grants reflect both planned giving by donors and responses to unanticipated and urgent needs, including relief efforts for the Ebola epidemic. Year to date, $3.8 million has been granted at the recommendation of donors with more than 500 grants specifically referencing Ebola. This is in addition to ongoing support by some donors who were recommending grants for health care improvement in West Africa prior to the epidemic. Donors looking for guidance on how to support the Ebola relief efforts can learn more at http://www.fidelitycharitable.org/about-us/news/09-30-2014.shtml.

"Our donors are highly engaged in their philanthropy, and it is their generosity that drove our record granting," said Amy Danforth, president of Fidelity Charitable. "The fast pace of grant making early in the year may be a promising sign as the year-end giving season-a key fundraising period for charities and when about 40 percent of our donor-recommended grants are made-gets underway."

In addition, contributions to Fidelity Charitable donor-advised funds rose 57 percent in the nine-month period. The majority of contributions were appreciated assets, including publicly traded securities and private capital assets, as the strong markets through the third quarter boosted their value, making them attractive assets to use to fund philanthropy.