Cryptocurrency donations to Fidelity Charitable soared last year to 12 times the amount donated in 2020, Fidelity Charitable reported in its 2022 Giving Report released today.
The 1,082% increase in giving through digital coins was part of another record-setting year in philanthropy, Fidelity Charitable said.
Fidelity Charitable donors contributed $331 million in digital assets in 2021, compared to $28 million contributed in 2020. Sixty-six percent of the donations to Fidelity Charitable, a donor advised fund, were made in non-cash assets including cryptocurrency. Other non-cash assets, such as publicly traded stock, privately held business shares and restricted stock, helped push those donations to 66% of the total.
Fidelity Charitable donors set records for number of donor-recommended grants, the number of charities supported, and the amount of grant dollars distributed, according to the report. Donors recommended a record $10.3 billion in grants, which is 41% more than pre-pandemic giving in 2019. The 2.2 million individual grants went to 187,000 organizations.
An average of 12.4 grants was made from each account in 2021, compared to 7.4 a decade ago, and the average dollar amount of each grant also grew, from $3,775 in 2012 to $4,407 in 2021.
“The phenomenal giving we saw from Fidelity Charitable donors in 2020 continued to grow in 2021, showing us that this increase in generosity is a sustainable trend,” Fidelity Charitable President Jacob Pruitt said in a statement.
“The report also shows how donor-advised funds served as a ‘ready reserve’ for responsive philanthropy, as the ripple effects of the Covid-19 crisis continued to influence granting activity,” Fidelity Charitable said.
For instance, more grants went to organizations supporting Asian Americans, who faced a rise in hate incidents related to the pandemic. There was an 800% increase in accounts supporting Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and the Asian Pacific Fund saw a 590% increase.
Philanthropists apparently wanted to help arts and culture organizations that were hurt by canceled performances, classes and fund raising events, which caused a loss of revenue, Fidelity Charitable said. Donors gave $351 million more in 2021 than in 2020 to arts and cultural organizations.
Donors also continued to support relief for emergency situations both domestically and internationally, such as the refugee crisis in Afghanistan and natural disasters throughout the United States.
Before being distributed as grants, the money accumulated in donor advised funds is invested and the amounts put into impact investing increased dramatically, according to Fidelity Charitable. Impact investments rose to $3 billion in 2021, a 67% increase from 2020. Fidelity Charitable launched a new impact pool in 2021, giving donors a total of five sustainable and impact investment options that they could include in their investment recommendations.
Using donor advised funds for impact investing means the money can have a positive impact while generating returns. “The increasing popularity of impact investing in recent years signals the strategy’s move from a relatively niche concept to a trend gaining in support among individual donors at all levels,” Fidelity Charitable said.