We are excited to bring back our Charitable Giving Badges to help you track your progress and giving impact in your quest to make the world a better place. Whether you’ve earned Limitless Giver, Global Benefactor, or Retirement Fund Maximizer, earning any badge makes you a winner.
Leveling up your badges
Below, you’ll find descriptions for all of our badges. Compare how your giving style matches up to your fellow donors.
Charity Champion
Our donors are generous, thoughtful givers, supporting more than 42,652 distinct charities, working across a wide spectrum of cause areas and needs. Click the title to read more.
Charity Champion
While the average U.S. donor contributes to 4.5 different charities in a year,1 our donors support an average of 5.5 charities each year.
The top tier of donors who earned a Charity Champion badge have supported at least 7 unique charities in 2021.
Limitless Giver
In 2021, 73% of our grants were gifted for unrestricted purposes. Choosing an ‘unrestricted’ grant purpose when recommending grants puts your favorite charities in the driver’s seat. Click the title to read more.
Limitless Giver
Research shows that only 20% of nonprofit funding in the U.S. is unrestricted. This can contribute to charities limiting their overhead to attract and retain funding, preventing investment in future growth and innovation.2
Donors who earned a Limitless Giver badge recommended 50% of grants in 2021 as unrestricted.
Repeat Supporter
In 2021, 16% of our donors’ recommended grants were recurring. Setting up a recurring grant to your charity of choice is a powerful way to help it grow its organizational capacity. Click the title to read more.
Repeat Supporter
On average, 50% of donors give just once to a charity.3 Recurring grants reduce fundraising costs, increase investment in the organization’s sustainability, and support future plans.
Committed Collaborator
When you partner with the same nonprofit for more than a year or two, you open the door to building a long-term relationship with the charity. Click the title to read more.
Committed Collaborator
Committed giving creates a relationship based on accountability, transparency, and trust. You’re also giving the charity room to grow in capacity, expertise, and infrastructure.
Donors who earned a Committed Collaborator badge supported the same organization for 6 years or more.
Interstate Idealist
Our toughest social, environmental, and economic challenges aren’t always neatly bound by geographic borders. The organizations leading the charge to address these issues are found throughout the United States. Click the title to read more.
Interstate Idealist
You can use your account to easily support charities—regardless of where they’re physically located. Approximately 43% of our donors’ recommended grants were issued to charities located outside of donors’ home states.
Donors earning an Interstate Idealist badge supported charities in 5+ states in 2021 (not including their home state).
Alternative Hero
Donating illiquid gifts and other complex assets to fund your account is a fantastic way to unlock charitable dollars in your portfolio and maximize your tax savings. Click the title to read more.
Alternative Hero
In 2021, we liquidated more than $35M in complex assets for our donors, unlocking those dollars for charities efficiently. We have years of experience in accepting, processing, and liquidating complex assets.
Donors who earned an Alternative Hero badge contributed 3 complex assets to their account in 2021.
Retirement Fund Maximizer
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) are direct distributions from an IRA to an eligible charity.4 Click the title to read more.
Retirement Fund Maximizer
Although donor-advised fund accounts are ineligible to receive QCDs, they can often be contributed to our mission-driven charitable funds. Read more about our funds here.
Donors who earned a Retirement Fund Maximizer badge contributed a QCD to one of our mission-driven charitable funds.
Global Benefactor
In an increasingly interconnected world, many donors are seeking ways to make their giving go global. Click the title to read more.
Global Benefactor
Thanks to our partnerships with international grantmaking experts, we are more equipped than ever to send grants to organizations working throughout the world quickly, safely, and affordably.
Donors who earned a Global Benefactor badge recommended at least 1 international grant in 2021.
Footnotes
1The Ultimate List Of Charitable Giving Statistics For 2018
25 Ways Nonprofits Struggle (And How To Overcome Them)
3Sargeant, Adrian and Elaine Jay. Building Donor Loyalty. Jossey-Bass 2004, p. 2.
4Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) are direct distributions from an IRA to an eligible charity. IRA accountholders who are at least age 72 (previously 70 ½) can contribute some or all of their IRAs to charity in fulfillment of some of their required minimum distribution requirements (RMDs). Although donor-advised fund accounts at Vanguard Charitable are ineligible to receive QCDs, QCDs may in some cases be contributed to our mission-driven charitable funds: The Philanthropic Impact Fund and the Sustainable Disaster-Relief Fund.

Maintenance fee may be applied
Accounts having a balance below $15,000 may be subject to an annual maintenance fee of $250.

You are eligible for special rates
Our premier clients enjoy reduced pricing to further maximize their impact.
Our representatives are happy to guide you through.