Donors at Schwab Charitable, one of the nation’s largest providers of donor-advised funds and other philanthropic services, granted a record $6.1 billion to charity in 2023, a 31% increase from 2022, the organization announced on Jan. 23.
Donors supported more than 127,000 charities through over one million grants, an 11% increase in the number of grants compared with 2022.
Roughly one-quarter of the number of grants and grant dollars came during the year-end giving season. Between Giving Tuesday (November 28) and December 31, Schwab Charitable donors recommended approximately 250,000 grants totaling $1.5 billion for charities.
This isn’t the first time that Schwab Charitable, now entering its 25th year, has hit a record. During its fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, its donors for the first time surpassed $5 billion in grants.
“The generosity of our donors continues to inspire us year after year,” Sam Kang, president of Schwab Charitable, said in a press release. “And despite recent economic uncertainty, political turmoil and market volatility, our donors demonstrated their commitment to giving back with yet another historic year of granting.”
The Power of DAFs
Because donors contribute in advance to their donor-advised accounts, funds are available for granting even in volatile times. And that’s often when there’s more need for charitable support, says Schwab Charitable.
Connecting with The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) enables Schwab Charitable to share a list of vetted charities supporting immediate relief and recovery efforts as soon as communities are impacted by disasters.
In 2023, Schwab Charitable donors granted over $124 million to charities recommended by the CDP to support those affected by natural and humanitarian crises.
Nearly three-quarters (71%) of grant recommendations made by Schwab Charitable donors do not specify a purpose. This means that charities can use the grants where they need it most.
In 2023, 69% of existing donors granted to an organization they had not previously supported, and 87% of donors granted within their home state.
Donor-advised funds “are an easy-to-use and tax-efficient giving vehicle that helps maximize charitable impact when it matters most,” Fred Kaynor, managing director of Marketing, Relationship Management and Strategic Partnerships at Schwab Charitable, noted in the press release.
Advisors Can Play a Big Role
Schwab Charitable works with more than 3,700 advisors who help clients create a charitable giving plan as part of their broader wealth planning strategies. More than three-quarters (76%) of account assets at Schwab Charitable in 2023 were associated with a professional investment advisor.
Advisors can help clients evaluate their assets to determine what to give to charity, it says. In 2023, 64% of contributions to Schwab Charitable were non-cash assets, including appreciated stock and private business interests. Contributing appreciated non-cash assets that were held for more than one year to a donor-advised fund can increase the amount available for charities by as much as 20%. That’s because the contribution eliminates the donor’s capital-gains tax liability on those assets.
