The US’ largest donor advised fund (DAF), Fidelity Charitable, distributed $1.6 billion in grants in the first half of 2016, according to a report. This is a 14% increase over the same period last year.
DAFs allows donors to make contributions while reaping its full tax benefits, and lets them choose which charity to donate these contributions to at their convenience.
Grants to Fidelity reached $3.3 billion in the fiscal year ending July 2016, which is an increase of 15% compared to the previous year. Volume of grants grew 8% to more than 330,000 in the same comparable period.
The Massachusetts based DAF reported that unaudited figures reflect $4.1 billion in contributions. In 2015, the amount reached $4.6 billion, with net assets of $15.25 billion.
Fidelity Charitable first launched its national program 25 years ago. As of June 30, the DAF has made a total of $23.4 billion in donor recommended grants since its founding.
Nearly 67% of donors said they give more because of DAF. They cite investment growth, easy contributions to assets that appreciate, and having a dedicated account to support charities as their top reasons for participating in DAFs, donor surveys revealed.
