The Fidelity Charitable donor-advised fund is challenging donors to reach a goal of $25 billion in grants by the end of the year to commemorate the fund’s 25th anniversary.
At the same time, the charity announced Tuesday a record-breaking total for grants for the first half of 2016 at $1.6 billion, a 14 percent increase over the same period last year. The number of grants also increased from the first half of 2015 by 8 percent to 330,000.
Fidelity Charitable has made $23.4 billion in donor-recommended grants since it was founded in 1991, and Fidelity hopes the number can top $25 billion by the end of the year.
“As I consider the more than 800,000 donor-recommended grants that we are projected to make this year, I am humbled by the power of generous individuals like you to make the world a better place,” said Amy Danforth, Fidelity Charitable president, in a recent letter to donors. “I ask you to consider the charitable organizations and causes you care most about and the opportunity to make a real difference for a nonprofit that needs it.”
Since its founding, the number of Fidelity Charitable donors has increased 40-fold, and both grant dollars recommended by donors and the number of grants have increased by more than 200 times the original amounts, Fidelity Charitable says.