Fidelity grants at record high

Todd Cohen | February 18, 2008

The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, the largest donor-advised fund in the U.S., awarded a record-high $1.17 billion in grants in 2007.

That's up 24 percent over 2006 and represents the third consecutive year of record giving, bringing to $7.7 billion the total outlay over the fund's 15-year grantmaking history.

Gifts to the fund also spiked in 2007, up 45 percent from 2006 to $1.85 billion.

Much of that growth was driven by a lower minimum grant amount and a lower donation required to open a giving account, developments begun in 2006.

That led to the creation of more than 6,700 new giving accounts in 2007, an increase of 44 percent.

The fund introduced new investment options in 2007 and redesigned its website, leading more than seven in 10 transactions to be handled online.

Gifts of stock rose in 2007 to account for almost three-quarters of all contributions, up 6 percentage points over the prior year.

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