In spite of an uncertain economy and market volatility, donors at Schwab Charitable, an independent public 501(c)(3) charity, gave a record $5 billion to charities in fiscal 2023, ended June 30, the organization announced today.

Donors surpassed one million individual grants to charities for the first time in the organization’s history and supported more than 120,000 charities, said Schwab Charitable, a provider of donor-advised funds and other charity resources.

The total dollar amount granted to charities represents an 8% increase, or nearly $350 million more for charities, over the previous fiscal year.

“I’m truly inspired by the generosity of our donors over the last 12 months and proud to share how they put their charitable dollars to work in record-breaking amounts this year,” said Sam Kang, president of Schwab Charitable, in a statement. “Donor-advised funds have proven to be a resilient tool for donors, who were able to increase their support of nonprofit organizations despite economic volatility in the last year.”

According to Giving USA’s annual report on philanthropy issued earlier this year, total giving in the United States declined in 2022. That’s only the fourth time in four decades that donations did not increase year over year, a decline due in part to a sustained period of economic uncertainty and corresponding market volatility, Schwab Charitable said.

The fund’s donors granted to charitable organizations in all 50 states, and 87% of donors granted in their own state, through 568,000 grants to local causes and organizations, the fund said. In fiscal 2023, donors gave $108 million to organizations vetted by the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

During fiscal 2023, 81% of donors granted to charities they previously supported, at the same time that 68% granted to new charities they had not previously supported.

Schwab Charitable now works with nearly 3,500 advisors, a 9% increase in advisor relationships from the previous year. They advised on 77% of Schwab Charitable’s donor account assets. “One way advisors can work with donors is by helping them evaluate which assets to give, including considering non-cash assets such as publicly traded stock or private business interests,” Schwab Charitable said. More than half of the donations in fiscal 2023 were in non-cash assets.

According to Charles Schwab’s “2023 RIA Benchmarking Study” released earlier this year, 88% of advisors offer charitable planning to their clients, which is “one of the top offered services that can help deepen client relationships and meet client needs,” the fund said. “Advisors who work with multiple client generations on family giving plans and legacy planning will help differentiate their practices as Americans navigate the impending wealth transfer, which by some estimates will see nearly $12 trillion donated to charities.”

“Advisors are poised to introduce clients, including the rising impact-focused generation, to simple, effective charitable giving,” said Julia Reed, the national director of charitable consulting at Schwab Charitable, in a statement.