Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Schwab Charitable™, one of the largest national providers of donor-advised funds and other philanthropic services, reports that its donors increased grants to charity by 27% to more than $4.7 billion in fiscal year 2022 (ended June 30, 2022). Donors supported 117,000 charities through 993,000 grants, a 24% increase in the number of grants to charities compared to fiscal year 2021.

“The remarkable charitable impact our donors made over the past fiscal year is truly inspiring,” said Sam Kang, President of Schwab Charitable. “We are grateful for the opportunity to provide tools, resources, and education for our donor community as they continue to increase giving to meet rising needs in their communities and around the world.”

Increasing support for those in need

In fiscal year 2022, Schwab Charitable donors granted an average of 13 times, recommending more than half a million grants within their own states and supporting 11% more charities than the previous fiscal year.

One reason donors have increased charitable giving in the last 12 months was to lend support to those impacted by recent crises both at home and abroad. For example, a Schwab Charitable donor, Mark P., shared that, “The Ukraine situation has prompted us to donate incrementally to support relief efforts through a couple charities that I know well and have a presence in Ukraine.”

Another Schwab Charitable donor, Charles R., said, “We've made ‘emergency’ donations to multiple entities who are on the ground in Ukraine with humanitarian assistance and relief efforts, as well as entities that are helping to manage surging refugee populations. As much as possible, we're trying to do this not by diverting grants that would have gone to other hot spots and areas of need, but rather, adding to our account with new contributions.”

To date, Schwab Charitable donors have recommended $7.7 million in grants to support organizations mobilizing relief in Afghanistan, and more than $50 million in grants to support those impacted by the war in Ukraine. While supporting these and other crises, Schwab Charitable donors also recommended more than 50,000 grants totaling more than $200 million to date to charities that are combating the effects of Covid-19.

A Schwab Charitable donor-advised fund account enables donors to react quickly to events with charitable dollars that have already been set aside for a charitable purpose and conveniently recommend grants online or on a mobile device. Throughout fiscal year 2022, 70% of donors said they give more because of their Schwab Charitable account, and there was a 30% increase in the number of grants made on a mobile device.

According to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, there are four phases of the disaster lifecycle that happen before, during, and after a devastating event. Sustained support throughout each stage is critical, and Schwab Charitable donors can easily set up ongoing, recurring grants from their donor-advised fund to maintain support for their favorite causes. In fiscal year 2022, there was a 37% increase in the number of recurring grants sent by donors.

Additionally, Schwab Charitable donors have increased the proportion of grants not designated for a specific purpose. These unrestricted grants have reached 72% of the total, affording even more nonprofits greater flexibility to put donations toward immediate needs.

The critical role of financial advisors

Advisors play a critical role in their client’s philanthropy, and donors increasingly look to them for guidance on how to put their charitable dollars to work. At Schwab Charitable, advisors manage two-thirds of account assets for donors.

One important consideration in charitable planning is evaluating which assets to give. In fiscal year 2022, 61% of contributions to Schwab Charitable were in the form of non-cash assets, including publicly traded securities, restricted stock and private business interests¹. Donating appreciated non-cash assets to charity allows donors to potentially eliminate capital gains tax they would otherwise incur if they sold the assets first and donated the proceeds, potentially increasing the amount available for charity by up to 20%.

“Advisors are uniquely positioned to help donors give more efficiently through tax-smart contributions and strategies to maximize their impact on those in need," said Fred Kaynor, Managing Director of Business Development, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships at Schwab Charitable. "We look forward to continuing to work with the donor and advisor communities in support of our mission to increase charitable giving in the United States and beyond."

Schwab Charitable provides advisors a host of resources to broaden and strengthen their charitable giving offerings. Schwab Charitable developed an advisor resource center on its website that serves as a toolkit for financial advisors to help guide clients through developing their giving strategy based on their philanthropic goals and priorities. One of these tools, the Schwab Charitable Giving Guide, takes advisors, donors and their families through a complete giving plan and ultimately provides them with a comprehensive strategy to maximize their impact on their favorite causes. Advisors have been active users of the Giving Guide and account for nearly 25% of more than 1,000 total downloads of the guide.

Partnerships with purpose

During the past fiscal year, Schwab Charitable developed and expanded strategic partnerships with other nonprofits and philanthropic organizations to provide donors with additional educational tools and resources to assist with the planning and implementation of strategic, tax-smart philanthropy.

One such resource is a podcast and webinar series entitled Giving with Impact which is co-produced by Schwab Charitable and Stanford Social Innovation Review. These highly informative, topically relevant podcasts and webinars offer donors, advisors and charities information and insights to achieve maximum philanthropic impact.

Schwab Charitable also enhanced its dedicated digital resources for charities by launching a Fundraising Toolkit for nonprofits at the end of 2021 that offers recommendations for raising funds and growing a donor base with donor-advised fund account holders.

“Our educational resources support donors who want to give thoughtfully and have a lasting impact,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, Chairman of the Board at Schwab Charitable. “It is humbling to see their commitment, year after year, to so many important causes.”

About Schwab Charitable

Schwab Charitable’s mission is to increase giving in the U.S. with donor-advised funds and philanthropic tools and resources that make charitable giving tax-smart, simple and efficient. We offer tools, guidance and relationships that empower donors to incorporate charitable planning into their everyday lives and make a bigger difference in the world. Since our founding in 1999 as an independent 501(c)(3) public charity, Schwab Charitable donors have granted more than $24 billion to more than 216,000 charities. Visit SchwabCharitable.org for more information.

Schwab Charitable is the name used for the combined programs and services of Schwab Charitable Fund™, an independent nonprofit organization, which has entered into service agreements with certain affiliates of The Charles Schwab Corporation. Schwab Charitable Fund is recognized as a tax-exempt public charity as described in Sections 501(c)(3), 509(a)(1), and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of the Internal Revenue Code.

©2022 Schwab Charitable Fund. All rights reserved. (0722-2UX8)

¹ Schwab Charitable accepts illiquid assets for contribution on a case-by-case basis and in some cases, liquidation is facilitated by a third party. In fiscal year 2022, approximately 1.6% of contributions were non-cash assets liquidated by a third party, received by Schwab Charitable as cash, and reported here as non-cash assets.

Source: Schwab Charitable