Donor stories

Your Giving Account can make a difference. Learn how other donors use donor-advised funds to support the charitable causes they care about and make more of a difference.

More homes for foster teens

A late-night phone call gave Fidelity Charitable donors Peter and Kendra Amico a choice: Would they open their home to a teen in foster care? Their decision changed their family—and their giving—forever.

Peter and Kendra Amico

Peter and Kendra Amico

Orlando, FL

Embrace Families

Getting girls to college—and beyond

 Fidelity Charitable donor Charmaine Clay is creating a chain reaction of women empowering other women to succeed.  It's a legacy of mentorship she learned from her grandmother. 

Charmaine Clay

Charmaine Clay

Oakland, CA

Girls Inc. of Alameda County

Racial equity giving helps save a family business

When 2020 saw an uptick in anti-Asian sentiment, Fidelity Charitable donors like James Liu stepped up.

James Liu

James Liu

Boston, MA

Welcome to Chinatown

Millennial, high school teacher—and philanthropist

Our recent look into the future of philanthropy showed a clear trend: Millennials like donor Caroline Vannatta are shaking things up.

Caroline and Greg Vannatta

Caroline and Greg Vannatta

San Jose, CA

Sisters helping the homeless together

"Needs don’t just go away because the virus is out there—they multiply.” For determined volunteers Janet and Judy Fireman, a global pandemic meant the sisters had to get creative in how they helped homeless women. They found a way to cook dinner for 40 women every week—and continued to give.

Photo of Janet and Judy smiling at the camera over a bowl of salad

Janet and Judy Fireman

Tucson, AZ

Sister Jose Women's Center

How one family helped fight COVID-19—fast  

After years of giving together as a family, the Youngers were ready for their next philanthropic challenge: supporting COVID-19 relief efforts as quickly and effectively as possible.

The Younger Family

Younger Family

San Francisco, CA

COVID-19 relief

Helping save a chorus

When her beloved community chorus saw ticket sales vanish due to COVID, Fidelity Charitable donor Mary-Jo Knight knew she couldn't let their song go silent.

Mary -Jo Knight

Mary-Jo Knight

Oakland, CA

Oakland Symphony Chorus

An airman's daughter

Fidelity Charitable donors Jim and Gini Mulligan share a unique connection: their fathers were prisoners of war together in Vietnam. Now, the Mulligans help the children of fallen warriors go to college debt-free by recommending grants to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. For Alison Loftis, daughter of Air Force Lt. Col. J.D. Loftis, the support is “a huge blessing.”

Gini and Jim Mulligan

Gini and Jim Mulligan

Wilmington, NC

Special Operations Warrior Foundation

Using social media to help feed children

The Millerberg family used to keep their giving anonymous. But when COVID-19 hit, they decided to share their giving story—and brought their friends and neighbors together to help save a nonprofit and feed more than 1,000 Salt Lake City families.

The Millerberg Family

The Millerberg Family

Salt Lake City, UT

USANA Kids Eat and For The Kids

Helping veterans after personal 9/11 loss 

After Carole O’Hare’s mother was killed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11, O’Hare decided to focus on helping others. It’s what her mom would do.

Carole O'hare

Carole O'Hare

Phoenix, AZ

Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation

Millennial helps students grow

After volunteering at a high school, Tiffany Yu saw words—not equations—were a struggle for STEM students. But thanks to her work with Super Stars Literacy, students who were falling behind are not only catching up but getting ahead in reading—and in life.

Student reading a book

Tiffany Yu

San Francisco, CA

Super Stars Literacy

Shining a light on gender violence

By supporting the creation of a documentary about gender violence in India, Mohamed Hamir hopes to raise awareness for a cause very near to his heart. His own granddaughter was adopted from an orphanage in Kolkata.

Mohamed Hamir

Mohamed Hamir

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Film Society

Guide dogs and giving

Kathy Wentworth followed her love of dogs to find a philanthropic focus: helping Guide Dogs for the Blind provide canine co-pilots to people who are losing their sight. Through decades of volunteering and recommending grants from her Giving Account, she has built a legacy of generosity – and a cross-country friendship.

Marsha Bulaka and Jewel

Marsha Bukala and Jewel

Lady Lake, FL

Guide Dogs for the Blind

Giving more to help the homeless

When Michael Bradley first heard about Boston Health Care for the Homeless on the radio, he used his Giving Account to make a one-time grant recommendation to the charity. But after seeing the team in action, and meeting the patients who benefit from their compassionate care, he deepened his commitment to the cause.

Michael Bradley

Michael Bradley

Boston, MA

Boston Health Care for the Homeless

Selling everything to help others 

Debra Mailman made a radical lifestyle change for a purpose: travel the world using her Microsoft-honed skills for disaster relief.

Debrah Mailman

Debra Mailman

Portland, ME

Disaster Relief 

Sending foster kids to college

Supporting a program that provided college scholarships and academic and emotional support to former foster children was an easy choice for retired school counselor Karen Long, and the donor-advised fund’s charitable planning advantages made it possible. 

Students studying

Karen Long

Oakland, CA

Renaissance Scholars Program    

Supporting early learning

Dan Francis was shocked when his sister, a kindergarten teacher, told him how many kids arrived in her classroom already behind. Supporting access to preschool was something he and his wife, Jill, knew they could do. They’ve since helped more than 700 kids.

Teacher and student painting

Dan and Jill Francis

Ann Arbor, MI

Child Care Network

Tips for impact investing

Sasha Rabsey had been focused on making a difference through her charitable giving, but she began to wonder whether that was thinking too narrowly about how she could have an impact. That’s when she began to explore impact investing.

Sasha Rabsey

Sasha Rabsey

San Francisco, CA

HOW Fund

Breaking the cycle of loss

Turning the loss of a loved one into something positive was the goal when Todd and Michelle Buelow established the Matt Tunno Make a Difference Memorial Fund. In their work at the Charlotte Rescue Mission, they've succeeded.

Michelle Buelow

Michelle and Todd Buelow

Charlotte, NC

Charlotte Rescue Mission

Gamifying global education

Robert Friedman channels the spirit that helped him launch businesses to fuel charitable endeavors, taking them from local to global. He’s exploring ways to bring affordable internet-based curricula from the world’s top educators to children everywhere.

Girl students using a laptop

Rob Friedman

Irvine, CA

Big Brothers Big Sisters

More than just an education

After building homes for the poor in Guatemala, Bob and Joan Scheel knew they could make another lasting difference through education. So they funded a school that has allowed more than 1,400 kids in Guatemala to receive more than just an education.

Girl in classroom

Bob Scheel

Fargo, ND

God’s Child

Recycling soap for hygiene

Dr. Amir Lakhani and his wife, Dr. Dilshad Sumar-Lakhani, know what it’s like to grow up without the basics of human comfort. So when they heard about a nonprofit sending sanitation supplies to refugees in the Middle East, they saw an opportunity to help.

Clean water

Amir Lakhani and Dilshad Sumar-Lakhani

Tampa, FL

Clean the World

Finding joy in giving back

When Carl Golub lost his daughter to cancer in 2012, he established a donor-advised memorial fund in her name. Today he continues to honor her legacy by supporting veterans causes, medical research, feeding the hungry and more.

Ellen Golub

Ellen Golub

1964-2012

Ellen M. Golub
Memorial Fund

A passion for helping others

When Lynda Fox started volunteering in college, she didn't know it would kick-start a lifelong commitment to giving back. Today, she supports over 40 charities a year with her family's donor-advised fund, and her impact reaches from California to Nepal.

Lynda Fox

Saratoga, CA

Smile Train

How Fidelity Charitable donors are different

See how our donors compare to their charitable peers nationwide

Fidelity Charitable donors are more likely to bring family into giving decisions.

Percentage who make giving decisions with others

Chart showing 82% of Fidelity Charitable donors make giving decisions with others versus only 53% of affluent donors overall.

Fidelity Charitable donors give more in retirement.

Retired Fidelity Charitable donors compared to retired affluent donors nationwide

Chart showing Fidelity Charitable donors more likely to give to 6 plus charities, donate over $10,000 each year, and have a higher confidence in their ability to maintain giving in the future versus only 53% of affluent donors overall.