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Donor-advised fund account holders at Fidelity Charitable and National Philanthropic Trust set records in 2018 for the number of grants recommended and total amounts donated, the two charities reported this week.
Last year, Fidelity Charitable made some 1.3 million donor-recommended grants, totaling more than $5.2 billion, $700 million more than in 2017. Grants went to 142,515 unique organizations in the U.S. and globally.
The three most popular grant recipients were Doctors Without Borders, American National Red Cross and The Salvation Army, according to the report.
"Last year we witnessed the enduring generosity of our donors who demonstrated their commitment to philanthropy and used their DAFs to recommend more grants than ever to support thousands of charities despite the uncertainty around tax reform and extreme market volatility during giving season," Fidelity Charitable's president, Pamela Norley, said in a statement.
"One of the inherent strengths of donor-advised funds is that they enable sustained philanthropy regardless of the market environment."
Sixty-three percent of contributions to Fidelity Charitable last year were made in the form of more strategic noncash assets, including publicly traded securities and nonpublicly traded assets — private stock, restricted stock, limited partnership interests and Bitcoin.
According to the report, nonpublicly traded assets topped $1 billion in gifts to Fidelity Charitable in 2018. Since inception, it said, the DAF sponsor has converted more than $6 billion in nonpublicly traded assets into dollars for charity.
