Vanguard Charitable notches year of record giving despite market turmoil

In fiscal 2023, grants were up 11%, surpassing $2 billion, according to the sponsor of donor-advised funds.

Vanguard Charitable donors granted a record $2.1 billion during its 2023 fiscal year even as stocks tumbled.

The sponsor of donor-advised funds announced Thursday that granting increased 11% in fiscal year 2023, which ended in June, surpassing $2 billion for the first time in Vanguard Charitable’s quarter-century history.

Vanguard Charitable donors issued more than 195,000 grants to over 53,000 nonprofits, totaling $2.1 billion. The average grant amount was $10,972, a 17% increase over the prior year, according to the organization.

Donors who use DAFs are uniquely positioned to maintain their giving in the long term since the funds are designed to be countercyclical. The money in a DAF is already committed to charity, so even when stocks are down and donors may not be able to contribute as much, they can continue to grant money from their DAF.

Last month, Schwab Charitable revealed that its donors increased their giving by more than $5 billion during its 2023 fiscal year, which also ended June 30.

“The incredible increase in granting this fiscal year exemplifies how our donors consistently leverage their DAFs to maximize and extend their charitable impact — even in the face of economic uncertainty and headwinds in national levels of giving,” Rebecca Moffett, president of Vanguard Charitable, said in a statement. “This again demonstrates the power of a DAF and how funds already earmarked for charity remain available and ready to be deployed to nonprofits in need both immediately and over the long term.”

Elsewhere in the report, Vanguard Charitable said it distributed over 37,000 recurring grants totaling more than $114 million in its fiscal 2023, an 11% increase from 2022. Recurring grants are scheduled to automatically reissue according to a set schedule throughout the calendar year, providing more consistency for nonprofits.

The most popular causes for Vanguard Charitable donors were human services, with grants totaling more than 54,000; religion, with 43,000-plus grants; and education, with 30,000-plus.