PROVIDENCE – Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund donors gave $1 billion at a record rate in 2018, according to the nonprofit public charity which operates under the name Fidelity Charitable, Wednesday.
Between Jan. 1 and March 13, a total of $1 billion was awarded to more than 62,000 charities via more than 221,000 donor-recommended grants, the fastest the organization has hit $1 billion in one year. For comparison, this figure marks a 42 percent increase over the total amount donated between Jan. 1 and March 13, 2017, a year in which the billion dollar mark was reached in April.
“The extraordinary generosity of our donors, old and new, continues to humble us,” said Elaine Martyn, Fidelity Charitable’s vice president and managing director, private donor group, in a statement. “Our mission is to grow philanthropy by making giving accessible, simple and effective, and this exceptional benchmark helps us know that we are on the right track in meeting it.”
In addition, by the organization’s count, 2018 has witnessed a 25 percent increase in the number of donor-recommended grants issued compared to the previous year.
The jump in donor-recommended grants, said Martyn, “illustrates that Americans are increasingly aware of” the capabilities of such platforms, which she said “allow donors to plan strategically and efficiently create the greatest impact for the causes they care most about.”
In congruence with previous years’ breakdowns, education- and religious-focused nonprofit organizations have received the most grant funding while religious and human services charities have benefited from the largest volume of grants.
Since its founding in 1991, Fidelity Charitable has awarded more than $30 billion in donor-recommended grants, including $4.5 billion in 2017, to nonprofits.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.
