For Advisors
What are the things to keep in mind when recommending a grant?
Why should a portion of the managed account balance remain in the Fidelity Charitable pools?
What is the best way to recommend a Grant on behalf of my client?
Is it possible to recommend odd dollar grants?
What is a “due diligence process”?
Can a grant be used for a sponsorship?
Where can I find the status of my client’s grant?
Where is the option to specify which managed account the grant should come from?
Why does your website say there is a $0 balance when my client makes a grant?
Your client can recommend a grant to IRS-qualified 501(c)(3) public charities or private operating foundations. The minimum grant amount is $50. In addition to the amount of a grant, your client can also recommend a use for the funds and specify how they would like to be acknowledged. These details are sent to the charity along with the grant.
Review important restrictions around donors receiving "more than incidental" benefit in return for making a grant.
This ensures that grants get to charities as quickly as possible. If there are only assets in the managed account, then we will notify you when funds must be raised to fund an approved grant. Donors recommend grants an average of 10 - 20 times per year, so having money in the pools ensures you won't have to raise and transfer cash each time a grant is requested.
To recommend a grant on behalf of your client through GivingCentral, you must have transactional access on the Giving Account and an Agency Agreement on file.
This demo walks a donor through the step-by-step process of setting up access privileges .
Unfortunately, GivingCentral only grants in increments of $5 or $18. If your client wants to recommend a grant that is not an increment of $5 or $18, please contact our Fidelity Charitable team for assistance via 1-800-262-6935 or fcadvisorservices@fmr.com.
Additionally, donors can recommend a grant that is not an increment of $5 or $18 on FidelityCharitable.org through their Giving Account.
To protect the integrity of the program, and to ensure that we are following the rules outlined by the IRS for registered 501(c)(3) programs, we not only go through a process of verifying the charity but also the type of grant being made to ensure that it qualifies. Review our due diligence process.
No. Bifurcated or “split” gifts cannot be made with your donor-advised fund. For example, grants intended to pay all or a portion of the cost of tickets to attend a charitable event will not be made. This includes grants for the charitable, or tax-deductible, portion of the ticket price. The FULL ticket price (the tax deductible AND non-tax-deductible portions) must be paid out of pocket and separate from any Fidelity Charitable grants.
Here’s a hypothetical example: Rebecca would like to attend the Annual Gala at her favorite charity. The charity offers individual tickets priced at $500 ($250 tax-deductible) or a Patron Sponsorship for $10,000 that comes with 10 tickets for seats at a premium table ($7,500 tax-deductible). Rebecca would like to use all 10 seats so her friends and family can attend the gala with her. For Rebecca to be within Fidelity Charitable policy, she would have to pay the full minimum ticket price of $500 for each attendee, totaling $5,000.
She can recommend a grant for the remaining $5,000 from her Giving Account at Fidelity Charitable as long as this amount is considered fully tax-deductible with no goods or services being provided in connection to the grant.
Fidelity Charitable’s policies are in compliance with the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) which enacted certain laws applicable to donor advised funds, including excise taxes on prohibited benefits under IRC section 4967.
In December 2017, the IRS released Notice 2017-73 that requested comments on potential regulations the IRS is considering with respect to donor-advised funds. The rules proposed in the Notice are largely consistent with Fidelity Charitable’s policies and procedures.
You can check grant status by logging into GivingCentral and then clicking on your client’s Giving Account Name. The easiest way is to then click the Recent Grants tab and the third column will list the status of the donor’s five most recent Grant recommendations. To view more, click on Grant History.
Your client can check the status of a grant by logging into the Donor portal, go to History and then Grants. From there, they will see all recommendations from the account. Click on Grant ID on the left side and all details will display, including status.
Unfortunately, the only options to choose where the grant is being made from are the Pools or the Managed Account total balance. If there are more than one managed account, there is not an option to pick one or the other.
If you are enrolled in the Charitable Investment Advisor Program and the funding is in a managed account, please ensure you choose the appropriate funding source when recommending a grant.