According to a new analysis of nearly 64,000 Fidelity Charitable donor-advised funds, the average number of grants awarded per account increased to 7.9 in 2013, while the average grant size increased to more than $4,000.

The 2014 Fidelity Charitable Giving Report (28 pages, PDF) found that Fidelity donors awarded nearly 519,000 grants totaling $2.1 billion to more than 87,000 charities in 2013, with the largest share of grants (27 percent) going to religious organizations and the largest share of grant dollars (34 percent) awarded in the area of education. The analysis also found that  the number of $1 million-plus grants rose steeply from the previous year, accounting for 25 percent of all grant dollars, while 21 percent of the grants made were recommended on a pre-scheduled basis.

Based on a survey of eleven hundred Fidelity Charitable donors, the report also found that more than half of all respondents agreed "strongly" that they were teaching or have taught their children how to give, with those under the age of 50 about one and a half times as likely as those between the ages of 70 and 79 to agree "strongly" with the statement that family input influenced their charitable giving decisions.

"We often see families use their donor-advised funds to come together around a common cause, honor a family member, or prepare the next generation to continue the family's charitable legacy," said Fidelity Charitable president Amy Danforth. "Our donors' strong commitment to inspiring and teaching the next generation to give is a positive sign for the future of the charitable sector."