The Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program has announced that its charitable giving for the year ended December 31, 2004, significantly surpassed that of any prior year.

The endowment program granted over $197 million to public charities nationwide, more than twice as much as in 2003. In addition, donor contributions nearly doubled, to $438 million from $221 million. Donor-advised funds are the fastest growing charitable vehicle in the country.

"I believe that the simplicity and high ethical standards of our donor-advised fund have struck a chord with America's philanthropists, and the word is spreading," said the executive director of the program, Benjamin R. Pierce. "Donors have also found that their donor-advised funds provide a ready charitable reserve for crisis giving, and have responded quickly to the disaster in Asia." So far in 2005, the program has awarded more than $2 million to tsunami relief organizations.