Schwab Charitable, which manages a host of donor-advised funds (DAFs), reported that its donors gave a record $5 billion to more than 120,000 charities during its fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30. The total represents more than one million individual grants, and is 8%, or nearly $350 million more, than the support Schwab Charitable donors gave during fiscal year 2022.
The increase in distributions came at a time when funders overall have pulled back after the pandemic-era levels. “Contributions to Schwab Charitable declined year over year while granting to charities from Schwab Charitable increased to a record amount in the same period,” a Schwab Charitable spokesperson told The NonProfit Times.
The fund contributions Schwab Charitable DAFs received were of a wide variety of assets: 56% of the contributions made during the year were direct contributions of non-cash assets, and 1.1% were non-cash assets that had been liquidated by third parties and accepted by Schwab Capital as cash, despite being reported as non-cash assets.
Funders “acted locally” during fiscal year 2023. Some 87% of donors funded at least one recipient within their own state, for a total of 568,000 grants to local concerns. They also were willing to go beyond their comfort zones. While 81% made grants to charities they had previously supported, 68% contributed to granted to at least one new organization.
Donors have embraced messaging from nonprofits about the most useful types of grants. More than seven in 10 (71%) grants were made without restriction, while 29% of grants were restricted for specific purposes. Equally heartening, 35% of contributions were established as recurring grants, a 20% increase from the previous year’s level.
The largesse was spread among a wide variety of charity types. Contributions to religious organizations made up the largest category, at 28%, followed by human services (17%), education (12%), health (11%), public societal benefit (9%), international and foreign affairs (8%), environmental and animal concerns (8%) and arts, culture and humanities (7%).
Some donations were made with help from Schwab Charitable structures. Schwab has a relationship with The Center for Disaster Philanthropy, through which it generates a list of pre-vetted nonprofits that provide immediate relief for national and global crises. During fiscal year 2023, funders gave more than $108 million to organizations recommended by the Center.
