Fidelity launches college philanthopy program

The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund will launch a program with Campus Compact to educate and inspire young people to get involved in philanthropy. As part of the program, called Students4Giving, each of five institutions of higher education will receive oversight of a $15,000 donor-advised fund to be used for future grant recommendations in their communities. The institutions participating in this pilot program are: Boston University; California State University, Fresno; Portland Community College in Portland, Ore.; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash. Campus Compact of Providence, R.I., is a national association of college and university presidents with a mission of promoting civic engagement. Each school will receive a Gift Fund Giving Account seeded with $15,000 that will be overseen by students participating in 2008 winter/spring nonprofit and philanthropy courses at their schools. Students will research local issues, evaluating public charities and determine grant amounts. Some campuses have incorporated concepts such as grant writing and outcomes assessment. Fidelity’s Charitable Gift Fund and Campus Compact will also provide the schools with access to charitable planning consultants. Thirty-five universities and colleges submitted proposals to compete for the opportunity to participate. The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund has the largest donor-advised fund program in the country. Fidelity Investments of Boston had $3.4 trillion in custodied assets as of Oct. 31.