A simple, flexible, and tax-advantageous way to give to your favorite charities
A donor-advised fund, or DAF, is likea charitable investment account for the sole purpose of supporting charitable organizations you care about.
When you contribute cash, securities, or other assets to a donor-advised fund at a public charity, like Fidelity Charitable, you are generally eligible to take an immediate tax deduction. Then those funds can be invested for tax-free growth, and you can recommend grants to any eligible IRS-qualified public charity.
You want your charitable donations to be as effective as possible when you give. Donor-advised funds are the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicle in the United States because they are one of the easiest and most tax-advantageous ways to give to charity. Let’s take an in-depth look at how a DAF works.
Is a donor-advised fund right for you?
Take this fast 6-question quiz to determine whether a donor-advised fund suits your needs.
Supporting nearly 199,000 unique nonprofits in 2023
$11,792,613,541
In 2023, Fidelity Charitable made a record-breaking number of donor-recommended grants, over half a billion more than in 2022.1
12024 Giving Report
A very convenient way to donate funds to my favorite charities.
—Fidelity Charitable donor
How a donor-advised fund works
GIVE
Make a tax-deductible donation
Establish a Giving Account and then donate cash, stocks, or non-publicly traded assets such as private business interests, cryptocurrency, and private company stock to be eligible for an immediate tax deduction.
GROW
Grow your donation, tax-free
While you're deciding which charities to support, your donation can potentially grow, making available even more money for charities.
GRANT
Support charities you love, now or over time
You advise us on granting the money to your favorite charities, now or over time, from your local food bank to your house of worship to organizations with international impact. Support charities you love at a pace that is comfortable for you.
A smarter way to give
What if you could support your favorite charities with just one donation? That's the power of a donor-advised fund. Fidelity Charitable's is called the Giving Account.
Watch this quick video to see how it works. (02:43)
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Discover the details of donor-advised funds
- Benefits of a donor-advised fund
- How to support charities
- Beyond today
Easily contribute a wide range of assets
Giving non-cash assets is often more tax-advantageousthan giving via cash or credit cards, but it can be difficult for many charities to accept these charitable contributions. Contributing assets other than cash is simple with a Giving Account. In some cases, it’s possible to transfer stock directly from your brokerage account with the click of a button.See what you can donate.
Assets generally accepted include:
- Restricted stock
- Publicly traded securities or mutual fund shares
- Private equity and hedge fund interests
- Certain complex assets, such as privately heldC corpandS corpshares
- Cash equivalents,such as checks, wire transfers, or cash positions from a brokerage account
- Bitcoinand other cryptocurrencies
Invest your donation for tax-free growth
Once you have funded your donor-advised fund, you may recommend an investment strategy for your account—potentially growing your account and providing you with more dollars to grant to charity. Many sponsoring organizations also have programs allowing you to nominate your financial advisor to manage the investment of your charitable funds.
How much does a donor-advised fund cost?
The Fidelity Charitable Giving Account has no minimum initial contribution requirement and one of the lowest annual fees of any donor-advised fund. Total fees for a Giving Account typically amount to about 1% of the balance. That's generally less than the operating costs associated with a private foundation or the fees for donating with a credit card.
Maximize the potential tax benefits
As soon as you make a charitable contribution, you are eligible for an immediate tax deduction, just as you would be by donating to another public charity, like your local homeless shelter or food pantry. But some donations could make you eligible for additional benefits.
Cash donationsIf you donate cash, via check or wire transfer, you're generally eligible for an income tax deduction of up to 60% of your adjusted gross income.
Donations of long-term appreciated assetsDonating long-term appreciated securities directly to charity—instead of liquidating the asset and donating the proceeds—can help maximize both your tax benefit and the overall amount you have to grant to charity. These donations provide two tax benefits:
- Become eligible for an income tax deduction of the full fair-market value of the asset, up to 30% of your adjusted gross income
- Potentially eliminate and maximize capital gains tax on long-term appreciated assets, as long as they’ve been held for more than a year
Simplify recordkeeping and organization
With a donor-advised fund, you don’t have to keep track of every gift acknowledgment from every charity you support—just the receipts from your DAFcontributions. When you’re ready to support your favorite charity, you can simply log in to your account and recommend a grant to any IRS-qualified public charity.
With a donor-advised fund, you generally can:
- Support IRS-qualified public charities with grant recommendations from the donor-advised fund. The public charity sponsoring your account will conduct due diligence to ensure the funds granted go to an IRS-qualified public charity and are used for charitable purposes.
- Choose whether to recommend anonymous grants to charities or to provide grant acknowledgment contact information with your grant recommendations. While donors choose to provide information about themselves on more than 90% of grants recommended through Fidelity Charitable, donor-advised funds offer the option of anonymous granting for those who wish to recommend grants privately.
- Specify a specific use, campaign, or purpose for your grant recommendation. While you cannot fulfill legally binding pledges with a donor-advised fund, you can attach a special purpose to your grants, which the sponsoring organization will relay to the charity. Similarly, you may make grant recommendations “in honor of” or “in memory of” a loved one.
With a donor-advised fund, you generally cannot:
- Support organizations other than IRS-qualified, 501(c)(3) organizations, such as political groups or crowdfunding campaigns. Private foundations are also ineligible to receive donor-advised fund grants.
- Recommend grants that may provide a personal benefit—such as school tuition for a grandchild or tickets to a charity event that you will attend. Because you would receive something of personal value from these grants, they are not eligible, just like they would not be eligible for a tax deduction. Donor-advised fund dollars are to be used strictly for charitable purposes, such as general scholarship programs at your alma mater or contributions to your local church, synagogue, or mosque.
- Make aQualified Charitable Distributionfrom your IRA. Qualified Charitable Distributions also cannot be made to private foundations, split-interest charitable trusts, or supporting organizations.
How is a donor-advised fund different from a private foundation?
Private foundations and donor-advised funds are both charitable giving vehicles that help donors facilitate their giving and achieve their philanthropic goals. Unlike donor-advised funds, private foundations are separate legal entities, generally established by an individual, family, or corporation.Private foundations are subject to more stringent tax laws and regulations than public charities and are responsible for their own tax filing and recordkeeping.
Benefits of a private foundation include greater administrative control over assets and grantmaking, including the ability to make grants to organizations other than IRS-qualified, 501(c)(3) public charities. With different structures, rules, and features, donor-advised funds and private foundations each come with a unique set of advantages and limitations.Learn more about private foundations.
Support your legacy planning
You can incorporate your donor-advised fund into estate planning by making abequest in your willto the DAFsponsor or by making the sponsor a beneficiary of a retirement plan, life insurance policy, or charitable trust. By leaving instructions with the DAFsponsor, you can support multiple charities with one bequest. These gifts can also help reduce or eliminate the estate tax burdenfor your heirs.
Many sponsoring organizations also enable you to create a succession plan for your donor-advised fund—allowing you to pass on the remaining funds in your account to your heirs or your favorite charities. Some programs allow you to break the fund up into multiple smaller funds to pass down to different successors. While sponsoring organizations handle successiondifferently, donor-advised funds can be a valuable tool for estate planning.
What happens to my donor-advised fund after my death?
You’ve worked hard to establish your charitable legacy. Make sure to pass it on by nominating an individual, a charity, or a combination of both as the successor for your Giving Account. Nominating a successor is the simplest way to continue the legacy of your Giving Account after your passing. You can establish a succession plan when you open a Giving Account, or you can nominate a successor at any point bylogging into your Giving Account, clicking "Your profile," and choosing the "Successor" tab.
If a successor is not recommended, then upon your death, any remaining balance will be granted out in accordance with the Fidelity Charitable Trustees’ Initiative. For more information regarding successor options, review theFidelity Charitable Giving Account Guide.
54%
of our donors established a Giving Account to centralize their giving into one hub and prioritize their philanthropy.2
2Powering Generosity Report
Easily contribute a wide range of assets
Giving non-cash assets is often more tax-advantageousthan giving via cash or credit cards, but it can be difficult for many charities to accept these charitable contributions. Contributing assets other than cash is simple with a Giving Account. In some cases, it’s possible to transfer stock directly from your brokerage account with the click of a button.See what you can donate.
Assets generally accepted include:
- Restricted stock
- Publicly traded securities or mutual fund shares
- Private equity and hedge fund interests
- Certain complex assets, such as privately heldC corpandS corpshares
- Cash equivalents,such as checks, wire transfers, or cash positions from a brokerage account
- Bitcoinand other cryptocurrencies
Invest your donation for tax-free growth
Once you have funded your donor-advised fund, you may recommend an investment strategy for your account—potentially growing your account and providing you with more dollars to grant to charity. Many sponsoring organizations also have programs allowing you to nominate your financial advisor to manage the investment of your charitable funds.
How much does a donor-advised fund cost?
The Fidelity Charitable Giving Account has no minimum initial contribution requirement and one of the lowest annual fees of any donor-advised fund. Total fees for a Giving Account typically amount to about 1% of the balance. That's generally less than the operating costs associated with a private foundation or the fees for donating with a credit card.
Maximize the potential tax benefits
As soon as you make a charitable contribution, you are eligible for an immediate tax deduction, just as you would be by donating to another public charity, like your local homeless shelter or food pantry. But some donations could make you eligible for additional benefits.
Cash donationsIf you donate cash, via check or wire transfer, you're generally eligible for an income tax deduction of up to 60% of your adjusted gross income.
Donations of long-term appreciated assetsDonating long-term appreciated securities directly to charity—instead of liquidating the asset and donating the proceeds—can help maximize both your tax benefit and the overall amount you have to grant to charity. These donations provide two tax benefits:
- Become eligible for an income tax deduction of the full fair-market value of the asset, up to 30% of your adjusted gross income
- Potentially eliminate and maximize capital gains tax on long-term appreciated assets, as long as they’ve been held for more than a year
Simplify recordkeeping and organization
With a donor-advised fund, you don’t have to keep track of every gift acknowledgment from every charity you support—just the receipts from your DAFcontributions. When you’re ready to support your favorite charity, you can simply log in to your account and recommend a grant to any IRS-qualified public charity.
With a donor-advised fund, you generally can:
- Support IRS-qualified public charities with grant recommendations from the donor-advised fund. The public charity sponsoring your account will conduct due diligence to ensure the funds granted go to an IRS-qualified public charity and are used for charitable purposes.
- Choose whether to recommend anonymous grants to charities or to provide grant acknowledgment contact information with your grant recommendations. While donors choose to provide information about themselves on more than 90% of grants recommended through Fidelity Charitable, donor-advised funds offer the option of anonymous granting for those who wish to recommend grants privately.
- Specify a specific use, campaign, or purpose for your grant recommendation. While you cannot fulfill legally binding pledges with a donor-advised fund, you can attach a special purpose to your grants, which the sponsoring organization will relay to the charity. Similarly, you may make grant recommendations “in honor of” or “in memory of” a loved one.
With a donor-advised fund, you generally cannot:
- Support organizations other than IRS-qualified, 501(c)(3) organizations, such as political groups or crowdfunding campaigns. Private foundations are also ineligible to receive donor-advised fund grants.
- Recommend grants that may provide a personal benefit—such as school tuition for a grandchild or tickets to a charity event that you will attend. Because you would receive something of personal value from these grants, they are not eligible, just like they would not be eligible for a tax deduction. Donor-advised fund dollars are to be used strictly for charitable purposes, such as general scholarship programs at your alma mater or contributions to your local church, synagogue, or mosque.
- Make aQualified Charitable Distributionfrom your IRA. Qualified Charitable Distributions also cannot be made to private foundations, split-interest charitable trusts, or supporting organizations.
How is a donor-advised fund different from a private foundation?
Private foundations and donor-advised funds are both charitable giving vehicles that help donors facilitate their giving and achieve their philanthropic goals. Unlike donor-advised funds, private foundations are separate legal entities, generally established by an individual, family, or corporation.Private foundations are subject to more stringent tax laws and regulations than public charities and are responsible for their own tax filing and recordkeeping.
Benefits of a private foundation include greater administrative control over assets and grantmaking, including the ability to make grants to organizations other than IRS-qualified, 501(c)(3) public charities. With different structures, rules, and features, donor-advised funds and private foundations each come with a unique set of advantages and limitations.Learn more about private foundations.
Support your legacy planning
You can incorporate your donor-advised fund into estate planning by making abequest in your willto the DAFsponsor or by making the sponsor a beneficiary of a retirement plan, life insurance policy, or charitable trust. By leaving instructions with the DAFsponsor, you can support multiple charities with one bequest. These gifts can also help reduce or eliminate the estate tax burdenfor your heirs.
Many sponsoring organizations also enable you to create a succession plan for your donor-advised fund—allowing you to pass on the remaining funds in your account to your heirs or your favorite charities. Some programs allow you to break the fund up into multiple smaller funds to pass down to different successors. While sponsoring organizations handle successiondifferently, donor-advised funds can be a valuable tool for estate planning.
What happens to my donor-advised fund after my death?
You’ve worked hard to establish your charitable legacy. Make sure to pass it on by nominating an individual, a charity, or a combination of both as the successor for your Giving Account. Nominating a successor is the simplest way to continue the legacy of your Giving Account after your passing. You can establish a succession plan when you open a Giving Account, or you can nominate a successor at any point bylogging into your Giving Account, clicking "Your profile," and choosing the "Successor" tab.
If a successor is not recommended, then upon your death, any remaining balance will be granted out in accordance with the Fidelity Charitable Trustees’ Initiative. For more information regarding successor options, review theFidelity Charitable Giving Account Guide.
54%
of our donors established a Giving Account to centralize their giving into one hub and prioritize their philanthropy.2
2Powering Generosity Report
3 simple steps to get started today
OPEN
Takes less than five minutes
Opening a Giving Account is simple, with no minimum to open and no ongoing balance to maintain as you continue on your giving journey.
FUND
Stocks, bonds, cash
Decide how you want to fund your account and how often.
GIFT
Help charities you care about
A Giving Account makes it possible for you to recommend grants to multiple charities per year and increase your philanthropy options.
Make more of a difference
Donating stock to charity
Simple, easy, and impactful—long-term appreciated securities, including stock, bonds, and mutual funds, can be donated directly to charity.These are generally tax-deductible for the full fair-market value.
Naming your donor-advised fund
Though a donor-advised fund is not a foundation or a trust, many donors choose to grant from their Giving Accountas they would from a family or private foundation. Because of this, some elect to use this language in naming their donor-advised fund.
Examples: The Frank Smith Giving Foundation, The Francis Williams Missions Trust
Donating an IRA and other retirement assets
It is always possible to donate retirement assets, including IRAs, 401(k)s, and 403(b)s, by cashing them out, paying the income tax attributable to the distribution, and then contributing the proceeds to charity.
How does the Giving Account work?
Discover the details of Fidelity Charitable's Giving Account—the smarter way to give. Maximize your impact and simplify your charitable giving.
Additional information
Review our FAQs to help you better understand how the Giving Account works. Explore the investment options to choose an approach that matches your goals.
I like that I can make one contribution to my account, and from that contribution I can donate to several organizations. It shows all your contributions and keeps track of them. Donating to several organizations is easy, versus sending a donation to each individual organization.
—Fidelity Charitable donor
Open a Giving Account
Ready to get started?Open a Giving Account with Fidelity Charitable—the donor-advised fund that empowers smarter giving.
Try our demo
See for yourself how we make giving accessible, simple, and effective. Try our real-time demo account, which allows you to experience the features of the Giving Account.
A donor perspective
The Amico family journey
The Amicos turned to their local child welfare organization, Embrace Families—where Peter also volunteers as a board member—to discuss how they could help improve the lives of older kids in the foster care system. They used a Fidelity Charitabledonor-advised fund to help launch a program to support foster families with kids age 11 and older. That program, TeenEmbrace, has already seen remarkable impact: In its first year, data shows a 94% average placement stability rate among the 170 teens participating in the program.
Why Fidelity Charitable?
Join more than 322,000 donors who choose Fidelity Charitable to make their giving simple and more effective.
- Proven experience
- Easy-to-use tools
Since 1991, we have been a leader in charitable planning and giving solutions, helping donors like you support their favorite charities in smart ways.
The growth potential of donor contributions is even more impressive. Thanks to Fidelity Charitable investment programs, an additional $22.2 billion has been made available for charitable giving. That's a distinction matched by few organizations in the U.S.
Unlike a private foundation, there are no hefty legal fees or complicated administrative tasks associated with a donor-advised fund. You can set it up easily in just a few steps, and you can manage it yourself, or with your financial advisor. It's one of the most affordable, flexible ways to give.
From world-class service to expertise in handling donations of non-publicly traded assets, we have your charitable needs covered.
Our service team is always happy to answer questions and connect you to resources that can help you achieve your charitable giving goals. You can also tap into our team of lawyers and experts for guidance on how to donate seemingly illiquid assets like private company stock, restricted stock, real estate, and more.
With a Giving Account, bookkeeping has never been easier. You can view your Giving Account history and statements online at any time. You can even keep track of donations you've made outside of Fidelity Charitable, so all your giving is organized in one place.
Plus, our mobile capability makes sure you're always connected to the causes you care about. It even lets you recommend grants to charities on the go. It's all part of our approach to simple, more effective giving.
Since 1991, we have been a leader in charitable planning and giving solutions, helping donors like you support their favorite charities in smart ways.
The growth potential of donor contributions is even more impressive. Thanks to Fidelity Charitable investment programs, an additional $22.2 billion has been made available for charitable giving. That's a distinction matched by few organizations in the U.S.
Unlike a private foundation, there are no hefty legal fees or complicated administrative tasks associated with a donor-advised fund. You can set it up easily in just a few steps, and you can manage it yourself, or with your financial advisor. It's one of the most affordable, flexible ways to give.
From world-class service to expertise in handling donations of non-publicly traded assets, we have your charitable needs covered.
Our service team is always happy to answer questions and connect you to resources that can help you achieve your charitable giving goals. You can also tap into our team of lawyers and experts for guidance on how to donate seemingly illiquid assets like private company stock, restricted stock, real estate, and more.
With a Giving Account, bookkeeping has never been easier. You can view your Giving Account history and statements online at any time. You can even keep track of donations you've made outside of Fidelity Charitable, so all your giving is organized in one place.
Plus, our mobile capability makes sure you're always connected to the causes you care about. It even lets you recommend grants to charities on the go. It's all part of our approach to simple, more effective giving.
33
years in service
322,000+
donors
406,000+
charities supported
Ready to get started?
Opening a Giving Account is fast and easy, and there is no minimum initial contribution.
Or call us at 800-262-6039
