Vanguard Charitable donors grant a record $2.1 billion in latest fiscal year, an 11% increase over prior year

 Even with charitable giving down nationally, Vanguard Charitable marked another year of record giving

MALVERN, Pa., Aug. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard Charitable, a leading nonprofit and trusted sponsor of donor-advised funds (DAFs), announced today that granting increased 11% in fiscal year 2023 (July 2022-June 2023), breaking $2 billion for the first time in the organization's 25-year history. Despite economic uncertainty and ongoing inflation, Vanguard Charitable donors issued more than 195,000 grants to over 53,000 individual nonprofits, totaling $2.1 billion. The average grant amount was $10,972, a 17% increase over the year prior. Since its inception 25 years ago, Vanguard Charitable donors have granted more than $16 billion to nonprofits.

"We are deeply moved by our donors' generous support of nonprofits in need," said Rebecca Moffett, president of Vanguard Charitable. "The incredible increase in granting this fiscal year exemplifies how our donors consistently leverage their DAFs to maximize and extend their charitable impact – even in the face of economic uncertainty and headwinds in national levels of giving. This again demonstrates the power of a DAF and how funds already earmarked for charity remain available and ready to be deployed to nonprofits in need both immediately and over the long term."

Amplifying donors' impact

As nonprofits across the nation continue to navigate economic uncertainty, Vanguard Charitable donors have increased their support by refining their philanthropic strategies.

In fiscal year 2023, Vanguard Charitable distributed over 37,000 recurring grants totaling more than $114 million, an 11% increase from fiscal year 2022. Recurring grants are scheduled to automatically reissue according to a set schedule. While most giving occurs in November and December, recurring grants provide more consistency for nonprofits. These gifts offer continued support needed to sustain nonprofits' missions throughout the year.

Unrestricted giving is another key strategy pursued by donors. More than 50% of all grants recommended by Vanguard Charitable donors in fiscal year 2023 were unrestricted. This is consistent with the trajectory seen in recent years as Vanguard Charitable donors actively respond to the needs of nonprofits, giving nonprofits the opportunity to direct the funding to their areas of greatest need.

"Unrestricted gifts are incredibly valuable," said a small Midwestern charity and recent Vanguard Charitable grant recipient. "They show a donor understands and trusts the recipient organization."

Vanguard Charitable donors also continued to support a diverse range of cause areas, with the most popular including: 

• Human Services – over 54,000 grants
• Religion – over 43,000 grants
• Education – over 30,000 grants

Expanding our resources to support strategic giving

Vanguard Charitable works hand in hand with donors to help them plan for and strategically maximize their impact. This includes the development of insightful, data-driven resources, tools, and offerings to help donors expand and enhance their philanthropy strategy.

For instance, in Vanguard Charitable's recently released comprehensive donor study, Why Giving Matters: Donors give more effectively over time with a donor-advised fund, the organization found that opening a DAF leads to the increased adoption of effective giving practices over time. The report – which highlights notable donor trends, including how established DAF donors give more consistently and more monetarily on an annual basis than new DAF donors – includes responses from 1,500-plus Vanguard Charitable donors and 440 nonprofit organizations, along with a decade's worth of statistical insight into donor giving behavior.

To help donors become more strategic over time, Vanguard Charitable earlier this year boosted donors' charitable giving power by nearly doubling its trusted investment lineup to 36 high-quality, cost-effective investments. Vanguard Charitable's investment options have an average weighted investment fee that is 87% lower than the DAF industry average, reinforcing Vanguard Charitable's reputation for being a strategic and innovative partner to donors while also having the industry's lowest all-in fees.

For more information about Vanguard Charitable or giving through donor-advised funds, please visit www.vanguardcharitable.org.

About Vanguard Charitable

Vanguard Charitable is a leading U.S. nonprofit organization that fulfills its mission to increase philanthropic giving by administering a donor-advised fund—a tax-effective way to consolidate, accrue, and grant assets to charity. Since it was founded by Vanguard¹ in 1997 as an independent 501(c)(3) organization, Vanguard Charitable has granted more than $16 billion to charity. More information is available at www.vanguardcharitable.org.

SOURCE Vanguard Charitable