Donors to Schwab Charitable recommended a record $4.4 billion to some 114,000 nonprofits via 945,000 grants during 2021. That’s an increase of 20% from the $3.7 billion granted and a 14% spike on the 100,000 grants in 2020, according to data from the San Francisco-based donor-advised fund (DAF).
It’s the first time grants surpassed $4 billion in a year for Schwab Charitable, one of the largest DAFs in the United States, and last year’s total was double the amount that was recommended in 2018.
Almost two-thirds of donors (63%) granted to an organization they had not previously supported, in addition to organizations they had supported in the past. That compares with 74% of donors in 2020 who supported at least one new charity.
Schwab Charitable reported total assets of $17.1 billion for the fiscal year ending June 2020, according to the latest IRS Form 990 available on its website, with total revenue of $4.885 billion and total grants of $3.297 billion.
Since 2019, Schwab Charitable donors have increased the proportion of grants not designated for a specific purpose. Unrestricted grants reached 71% of the total during 2021. On average, Schwab Charitable donors recommended 11 grants throughout the year to 14% more charities than the previous calendar year.
In 2021, 82% of grant volume was handled through an automated review and approval process that eliminates manual reviews. Compared to 2020, the number of grants recommended through the Schwab mobile app jumped 32%, and 18% of donors set up recurring grants in 2021.
In 2021, financial advisors via charitable planning helped support donors who made 74% of all grants throughout the year.
Two-thirds of contributions (67%) to Schwab Charitable were in the form of non-cash assets, such as publicly traded securities, restricted stock and private business interests; that’s up from 60% in 2020. Donating appreciated non-cash assets to charity allows donors to potentially eliminate capital gains tax they would otherwise incur if they sold the assets first and donated the proceeds, potentially increasing the amount available for charity by up to 20%.
