Fidelity Charitable grants a record of nearly $1.3 billion to nonprofits through third quarter of 2013

BOSTON, October 23, 2013 —Through the first nine months of 2013, Fidelity Charitable recorded its strongest results in both outgoing grants to charities and incoming contributions. Fidelity Charitable made more than 308,000 grants to nonprofit organizations totaling nearly $1.3 billion, a 20 percent increase in grant volume and 33 percent increase in grant dollars over the same period last year. Incoming contributions also totaled nearly $1.3 billion, a 5 percent increase from the same period in 2012. In addition, Fidelity Charitable announced today that Anna Spangler Nelson has been elected chair of the Board of Trustees.

“Last year, amid the uncertainty surrounding tax laws for 2013, we saw many donors increase their giving and adopt a donor-advised fund for the first time. It’s that our new donors have jumped right into the grant making process and, like our established donors, are actively using their charitable account to support the causes that are important to them,” said Sarah Libbey, president of Fidelity Charitable.

Nearly One of Every Four Grant Dollars Was Part of a $1 Million or Larger Grant

Through the first three quarters of the year, 23 percent of outgoing grant dollars were part of a grant sized $1 million or larger, compared to 15 percent in the same period in 2012.

“As more donors complement their private foundations with a Giving Account or establish a Giving Account instead of a private foundation, the number of large accounts has grown,” said Libbey. “So we’re now seeing a corresponding uptick in large grants.”

Donors continued to regularly leverage appreciated assets to fund their Giving Accounts, with 48 percent of contributions coming in the form of publicly traded and non-publicly traded assets. Advisors also continued to play an important role in introducing donors to donor-advised funds and in supporting their charitable planning, as more than 60 percent of new accounts and more than 70 percent of contributions can be attributed to an advisor referral.

Anna Spangler Nelson Elected Chair of the Board of Trustees

Nelson, a resident of Charlotte, N.C., is the chairman of Spangler Companies, a private investment firm, and a member of the board for Harris Teeter Supermarkets and North Carolina Capital Management Trust.

Nelson has been a trustee for Fidelity Charitable since 2005, serving as chair of the Governance Committee and on the Investment and Audit Committees. Her philanthropic interests include education, community and human services, and arts and culture. She also currently serves as a board member for several charities: C.D. Spangler Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, YMCA of Charlotte, and Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School.

“We thank Scott Bergeson, our outgoing chair, for his service and look forward to his continued contributions to the organization as a trustee,” said Libbey. “We’re also excited to welcome Anna into her new role. She is a dedicated philanthropist whose deep investment management expertise and her experience supporting growing organizations and serving on a variety of nonprofit boards will be an asset in her new role, especially as Fidelity Charitable continues to evolve its programs to meet the strategic giving needs of Americans today.”

“Fidelity Charitable has a highly skilled and dedicated team focused on facilitating and promoting charitable giving,” said Nelson. “I’m honored to be a part of the organization and look forward to supporting Fidelity Charitable as it builds on its programs that enable donors to give more to the causes they support.”

Nelson received a bachelor’s in economics from Wellesley College and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. She is married and has two children.