Vanguard Charitable, the Malvern, Pa.-based donor-advised fund arm of mutual fund giant Vanguard, said Wednesday that giving from its donors had increased to $1.3 billion during the first 10 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, an increase of 25% from the same period in 2019. The charity said that $88.6 million of that giving was specifically earmarked for direct pandemic relief.
That $1.3 billion came between February 1 and November 30, said Vanguard, which was paid out to 4,000 unique organizations.
The findings were part of Vanguard’s “Covid-19 Giving Report, December 2020,” which also found that “the number of grants issued (grant units) also increased by 39% during this time period, amounting to an increase of more than 38,000 grants recommended over the same time period in 2019.”
Vanguard cited statistics from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, which found that a total of $11.9 billion had been awarded for Covid-19 efforts in the first half of the year. The center said that a combined $452.9 million in pandemic response had been awarded in the first half by the combined donor-advised funds of Vanguard Charitable, Schwab Charitable, and Fidelity Charitable.
When asked where they most wanted to give, 79% of Vanguard Charitable clients said that wanted to give to local organizations. Vanguard offers an interactive mapping tool called the Nonprofit Aid Visualizer (NAVi) that connects philanthropists with charitable organizations and their locations, including those working in Covid-19 relief efforts.
Vanguard Charitable said that giving during fiscal 2020 (from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020) “increased by 51% despite the steep economic downturn that marked nearly half of the year.”