Fidelity donors undeterred by market pullback, report says

The S&P 500’s 19% drop last year apparently didn't deter Fidelity Charitable’s grantmakers.  

According to its 2023 Giving Report released this week, Fidelity Charitable distributed $11.2 billion in donor-recommended grants last year, nearly $1 billion, or 9%, more than in 2021. The nation’s largest grantmaker said donors recommended a record total of 2.2 million individual grants to 189,000 charities operating across local, national and international levels.

Fidelity Charitable added that the average grant size grew to $4,798, an increase of about $391 compared to 2021. Donations saw a slight uptick despite rising uncertainty in the U.S. economy including a spike in inflation, rising interest rates, market swings and layoffs across multiple sectors.

“Despite volatile market conditions and economic unknowns, Fidelity Charitable donors stepped forward to bolster the critical work of nonprofits in our communities, recommending almost $1 billion more to charities than in the prior year,” Jacob Pruitt, president of Fidelity Charitable, said in a statement.

Pruitt also praised donor-advised funds for making it possible for donors to maintain giving “even in moments of crisis or during market downturns when nonprofits are particularly vulnerable and need steady streams of revenue that they can count on.”

The report showed that 63% of donor grant recommendations were designated “where needed most” last year. Nonprofits have the flexibility to apply funds with this designation to their most mission-critical priorities. Three-quarters of donors’ contribution dollars are granted within five years of receipt, Fidelity Charitable said.

Fidelity Charitable donors also used their donor-advised funds to practice responsive philanthropy in 2022. For example, they responded to the Ukraine crisis by recommending hundreds of millions in grant dollars to charities including the United States Fund for UNICEF, the International Rescue Committee and the Save the Children Federation.

Finally, the report said 57% of Fidelity Charitable contributions in 2022 were made in the form of more strategic noncash assets. The grantmaker said donors contributed $1.4 billion in assets that aren't publicly traded, such as restricted stock, private equity and limited partnership interests.