Giving to charity gears up after a crisis

By November 30, 2015Bitcoin Business

Local residents line up for relief supplies distributed by an international aid organisation after the April 25 earthquake in Bhaktapur, Nepal, May 10, 2015. During the first two weeks after an earthquake hit Nepal in April, Fidelity Charitable sent out 4,400 grants totaling almost $5.3 million from donors using special charitable accounts called donor-advised funds at the Boston-based nonprofit associated with Fidelity Investments. Now a few months later, the total is up to 6,000 grants totaling $7.8 million.

Within hours of something bad happening around the globe – whether its a hurricane or a humanitarian crisis like the flow of refugees from Syria – people start calling places like Fidelity Charitable, to ask where their donations would be most useful.

In the philanthropic circles, motivating folks to give can be a costly and fickle marketing exercise. Donor-advised funds, which operate like mini-foundations, help to bridge the gap.

"What we know about individuals, when it comes to disasters, is that they are highly influenced by media coverage and by the type of disaster," said Bob Ottenhoff, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, a nonprofit based in Washington. "That is why so much money flows immediately after there is a certain type of disaster, and it dries up after a couple of days."

Individuals gave an estimated 72 percent of the $358.38 billion donated to charity in 2014, according to Giving USA, with the rest coming from foundations and corporations.

Donor-advised funds make up a very small but growing part of that individual pie, granting $12.5 billion in 2014, up from $9.7 billion in 2013, according to the National Philanthropic Trust, which operates a donor-advised fund. And overall assets held in those accounts rose to $70 billion from $58 billion.

At Fidelity Charitable, one of the largest providers, you will need $5,000 […]

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