The National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) has announced that it awarded $5.53 billion in grants through donor-advised funds (DAFs) during fiscal year 2022, representing a 303 percent increase compared to pre-pandemic giving in fiscal year 2019. 

The number of grants totaled 102,745, representing an increase of 17 percent from fiscal year 2021 and exceeding 100,000 for the first time in NPT’s 26-year history. The number of charities that received grants also grew 14 percent, a 67 percent increase compared with fiscal year 2019. According to NPT, the areas that saw the most significant increases in both value and volume were health, international organizations, and the environment.

“More than ever, we are facing challenges broader than the communities where we live and work. NPT donors are responding to these challenges by recommending grants to U.S. and internationally based charitable organizations,” said NPT chief executive Eileen Heisman. “NPT donors continued to recommend unrestricted grants to causes important to them, thereby enabling charities to allocate funds where they are needed most. Our donors remained loyal to the charities they supported in the past while furthering their grantmaking in response to critical needs created by the war in Ukraine and the pandemic.” 

(Photo credit: Getty Images)