Fidelity Charitable donors recommended more than $100 million in grants to go directly to Covid-19 related causes during March, Fidelity Charitable said Tuesday.
In March, the number of grants increased 36% from the same month last year, with 136,000 grants recommended to 4,500 nonprofits, Fidelity Charitable said. Overall, Fidelity Charitable donors have granted $1.8 billion year-to-date, which is 7% higher than last year at this time.
Fidelity Charitable has asked donors to maintain that momentum and recommend an additional $100 million in grants in the lead up to GivingTuesdayNow, a global day of giving and unity that will take place on May 5.
“We’re inspired to see this rapid response from our donors, which will help support immediate medical needs, protect vulnerable populations, and sustain nonprofits affected by Covid-19,” said Pamela Norley, president of Fidelity Charitable.
A recent Fidelity Charitable study of 1,842 American donors indicated that while 79% of donors plan to maintain or increase the amount they give to charity this year, volunteer activity is likely to dramatically decrease due to the pandemic. Forty-seven percent of recent volunteers believe the amount of time they volunteer will decrease or stop entirely because of the pandemic, Fidelity Charitable said.
Additionally, donors are most concerned about the way that Covid-19 could impact the ability of health- and human services-related nonprofits to do their work, but concern is high for organizations in all charitable sectors, Fidelity Charitable said. The survey respondents also included a subset of nonprofit employees, 95% of whom said that Covid-19 has impacted their ability to do programming, fundraising or volunteer recruitment.
For donors as a whole, 25% plan to increase their donations in response to Covid-19. By charitable category, donors are most concerned about human services organizations, such as homeless shelters and food banks; small or community-based nonprofits in general, and health or medical research organizations.