The Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program donor-advised fund has set a high-water mark in its charitable giving.

    The program granted more than $197 million to public charities nationwide in 2004, more than twice what it gave a year earlier and larger than any prior year.

     Donor contributions to the endowment program nearly doubled from $221 million in 2003 to $438 million last year.

The program has granted more than $2 million to tsunami relief organizations so far this year.

    "We are grateful for the generosity and trust of our donors," says Benjamin R. Pierce, executive director of the program. "I believe that the simplicity and high ethical standards of our donor-advised fund have struck a cord with America's philanthropists and the word is spreading."

     The program has more than 4,350 donors, about $900 million in assets and has granted more than $475 million to public charities since its inception in 1997.