Fidelity Donor-Advised-Fund Giving Soars, Especially for Food Assistance

People with donor-advised-fund account at Fidelity Charitable distributed $2.35 billion in the first four months of this year, an increase of 16 percent over the same period last year.

Of that total, $184 million was designated for needs related to Covid-19, according to a report from Fidelity Charitable. However, the report notes that the true level of giving for Covid-19 is likely much higher because many other gifts designated the funds should be disbursed “where needed most.”

Gifts for food programs soared to nearly $75 million in the first four months of 2020, compared with $9.7 million during the same period last year. Meanwhile, support in most other categories of giving including arts and culture, the environment, and international affairs held relatively steady.

The report provides a wide variety of data about giving by state and by region. For example, donors in the Northeast who gave to Covid-related causes spent 73 percent of their grant dollars locally, the highest percentage of any region. At the other end of the spectrum, donors in the Southeast directed only 37 percent of their Covid grant dollars to local needs.

Human services was the most popular cause in 21 states and Washington, D.C., up from only seven states the previous year.