Schwab Charitable donors give record $3.7 billion in grants

Dollar giving was up 13% in fiscal 2021, while the number of grants rose 24%.

Donors using Schwab Charitable, a large provider of donor-advised funds and other philanthropic services, gave 855,000 grants totaling $3.7 billion to more than 113,000 charities in the 2021 fiscal year ended June 30. That represented a 13% increase in dollars and a 24% increase in the number of grants given to charities compared to the previous all-time highs set in fiscal 2020, Schwab Charitable said in a release.

In fiscal 2021, Schwab Charitable donors recommended grants to 12% more charities than the previous fiscal year and to nearly 30% more organizations than in fiscal 2020. There also was a 48% year-over-year increase in the number of grants recommended by Schwab Charitable donors that were not designated for a specific purpose, which gave nonprofits greater flexibility during a difficult time.

Schwab said that since fiscal 2019, the number of recurring grants and grants made on mobile devices have more than doubled, and in fiscal year 2021, 79% of grant volume was handled through an automated review and approval process.

Last Wednesday, Fidelity Charitable reported that its donors recommended a record $4.3 billion in grants in the first half of 2021, up 27% in dollar terms compared to the same period in 2020.

[More: Clients are upping charitable giving in the wake of the pandemic]