National Philanthropic Trust Donor-Recommended Grants to Charities Grow 179% to $6.46 Billion During Fiscal Year 2021

NPT donor-advised fund grantmaking momentum continues.

Donors continue heightened generosity to urgent and long-term charitable needs created by COVID-19 and racial justice and equity movement.

JENKINTOWN, Pa.--()--National Philanthropic Trust (NPT), the largest national, independent public charity that manages donor-advised funds (DAF), granted $6.46 billion on behalf of its donors in Fiscal Year 2021, representing an increase in value of 179%, compared to Fiscal Year 2020. All eight charitable subsectors experienced increased volume of grantmaking.

“Early in 2020, the value of NPT grants surged in response to the pandemic’s impact on communities around the country and globally. Our donors’ heightened generosity continued through the end of our Fiscal Year 2021,” said Eileen Heisman, CEO of National Philanthropic Trust. “NPT DAF donors responded to the pandemic by supporting the causes that they granted to historically as well as recommending additional grants to address new pandemic-related challenges we were all facing. In an unprecedented time, our donors continue to be reliable, generous supporters for tens of thousands of charities.”

Continued Heisman, “Fiscal Year 2021 also marked the year more NPT donors embraced ‘trust-based philanthropy’ – giving many unrestricted grants, meaning gifts that can be used for most any purpose appropriate to the organization. This indicated a 27% increase in number of unrestricted grants compared to the previous year. DAFs provide flexibility for donors to give quickly and easily to charities here and around the world.”

All eight charitable subsectors experienced an increase in NPT grant volume in Fiscal Year 2021. Four charitable subsectors experienced triple digit increases in grant value: Societal Benefit, Education, Human Services and Arts.

NPT Fiscal Year 2021 (July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021)

- $6.46 billion in donor-recommended grants, representing an increase of 179% compared to Fiscal Year 2020. This also represents continued grantmaking momentum from NPT Calendar Year 2020, during which grant value increased 171%.

“DAFs have always been a reliable source of our funding, powering established and new programs,” said a national health charity spokesperson. “Grants from our supporters with donor-advised funds have been especially important to us over the last year.”

Highlights of donor-recommended grants during Fiscal Year 2021 include gifts to combat institutional racism, support for Oxygen Generation Plants (OGP) to those recovering from COVID-19 in India, assistance for veterans with therapeutic companion dogs, funds to help end the climate crisis, and support Olympic Team USA athletes.

NPT’s UK affiliate, NPT UK, also saw historic donor-recommended grants to charities during Fiscal Year 2021.

About National Philanthropic Trust
Founded in 1996, National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) marks its 25th Anniversary in 2021 as the largest national, independent public charity that manages donor-advised funds and one of the leading grantmaking institutions in the U.S. Since its founding, NPT has raised more than $27.0 billion in charitable funding and has made more than 434,000 grants exceeding $15.5 billion to nonprofits around the world. NPT annually publishes the Donor-Advised Fund Report, the sector’s authority on the state of DAF philanthropy. In early 2021, NPT published the first sector-wide survey of DAF response to COVID-19, the DAF COVID Grantmaking Survey. Visit NPT’s resource library to learn what you can do with a DAF and NPT impact investing solutions. More at NPTrust.org and NPTGivingPoint.org.

Contacts

MEDIA:
Richard Virgilio
richard@virgilio.media
973.879.9080

Release Summary

FY2021 DAF GRANTS GROW 179% driven by urgent and long-term charitable needs created by COVID-19 and racial justice and equity movement

Contacts

MEDIA:
Richard Virgilio
richard@virgilio.media
973.879.9080