Fidelity Charitable details top cities, program areas for DAF grants

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30665
• Published date: 01 October 2019
• Date: 01 October 2019

OCTOBER 2019 NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

7

© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Industry News

Fidelity Charitable details top cities,

program areas for DAF grants

The top U.S. cities for charitable giving changed a

bit over the last year, according to a new study from

Fidelity Charitable, the nation’s largest administrator

of donor-advised funds, with major news-making

issues driving donor behavior in many areas of the

country. The Geography of Giving study details how

donors in 30 metro areas around the country support

causes in the eight charitable sectors dened by the

IRS—arts and culture, education, environment and

animals, health, human services, international affairs,

religion and society benet. The report draws on data

from about 200,000 donor-advised funds that sup-

ported more than 142,000 nonprot organizations.

According to Fidelity, donors were impacted

by several key events throughout 2018, including

Hurricane Florence in North Carolina, wildres

in California, environmental activism in Oregon,

the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East and the

immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border. In

response, donors in major cities across the country

shifted their grant funding to provide more support

to human services organizations, environment-related

groups and international affairs, among others. But

program areas like education, religion and health

care continued to draw support for the majority of

Fidelity account holders, the company said.

According to the report, donations from Fidelity

Charitable Giving Account holders in 2018 broke

down as follows:

• Arts and culture. Some 31% of Fidelity Chari-

table Giving Accounts directed grants to arts and cul-

ture charities, including museums, arts organizations

and public broadcasting services. The top ve metro

areas were Portland, Ore.; Boston; San Francisco;

New York; and Washington, D.C.

• Education. Education is the second most popular

charitable sector among Fidelity Charitable donors,

with 54% of its Giving Accounts supporting charities

such as schools and universities, literacy and after-

school programs and libraries. The top ve metro

areas were Bridgeport, Conn.; Boston; New York;

San Francisco; and San Jose, Calif.

• The environment and animal welfare. A quarter

of Fidelity Charitable Giving Accounts directed

grants to environment and animal charities, such

as conservation organizations, zoos and animal

shelters. The top ve metro areas were Boston;

Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; Providence, R.I.; and

Bridgeport, Conn.

• Health care. The report showed that 43% of

Fidelity Charitable Giving Accounts directed sup-

port to health-related charities, including hospitals,

medical research organizations and health treatment

programs. The top ve metro areas were Boston;

Bridgeport, Conn.; Miami; Providence, R.I.; and

New York.

• Human services. This is the most popular chari-

table sector among Fidelity Charitable donors nation-

wide, with 56% of Giving Accounts directing grants

to charities such as food banks, homeless shelters and

youth programs. The top metro area was Cleveland,

followed by Boston; Bridgeport, Conn.; Chicago;

and San Francisco.

• International affairs. Just 28% of Fidelity

Charitable Giving Accounts provided support to

international affairs charities, such as international

development, relief and human rights organizations.

The Washington, D.C. metro area topped the list, fol-

lowed by San Jose, Calif;, New York; San Francisco;

and Portland, Ore.

• Religion. Religion is one of the most popular

charitable sectors among Fidelity Charitable do-

nors nationwide, with 52% of its Giving Accounts

providing funding support to organizations such

as churches, synagogues and temples. The top ve

metro areas were St. Louis, Houston, Indianapolis,

Minneapolis-St. Paul and Charlotte, N.C.

• Society benet. Some 38% of Fidelity Chari-

table Giving Accounts directed grants to society

benet charities, including civil rights, community

improvement, social advocacy and volunteer orga-

nizations. Miami was the top metro area, followed

by New York; Bridgeport, Conn.; Boston; and San

Francisco.

For more information, the report can be viewed in

full at https://bit.ly/2ZpGsMr. ■