A Vanguard Charitable donor-advised fund helps you see the big picture. Donors who gave without much forethought in the past describe how their Vanguard Charitable account has helped them become more purposeful and effective in their charitable giving.

The nature of donor-advised funds means that donors can plan for the long-term and respond to unforeseen events as well. As Vanguard Charitable donors, you’ve shown the ability to be thoughtful and strategic yet also nimble, springing to action when unexpected need arises. In fiscal year 2019, we saw the continuation of a recent trend. You recommended millions of dollars for disaster relief across the country and world. You’ve also marshalled this same readiness in response to other social causes that have captured the public’s attention. New research suggests you’ll do the same to insulate charities during an economic downturn.¹

When disasters hit, we do our part by providing you with a pre-approved list of nonprofits and a streamlined process for rapidly issuing grants. For those who are interested in supporting long-term recovery efforts or preventative measures, we also offer the Sustainable Disaster-Relief Fund (SDRF). The SDRF is a mission-driven fund, not a donor-advised fund, which means you can support it through direct grants, required minimum distributions (RMDs), and succession plans.

^{1 https://www.sp2.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Heist-Vance-McMullen_Understanding-Donor-Advised-Funds_working-paper-002.pdf}

We were founded by The Vanguard Group, Inc, in 1997 as an independent public charity. The idea for the creation of Vanguard Charitable came from Vanguard clients themselves. They wanted a simple, flexible, and tax-effective method for scaling their philanthropy. They envisioned a powerful giving tool founded on core Vanguard principles.

In consultation with the IRS, Vanguard founded Vanguard Charitable as a separate entity. In the process, they helped establish best practices for the creation of an independent donor-advised fund provider. The precedent Vanguard and Vanguard Charitable set continues to be a model within the industry.

Since then, we’ve stuck close to the founding principles that those Vanguard clients valued. We believe in low costs, excellent service, best-in-class investments, and long-term strategic thinking. And we’ve seen over the course of our 22 years how you build upon those principles to transform the world.

Just as Vanguard does within the mutual fund industry, we take seriously the responsibility to set and meet a high bar among donor-advised fund providers. We aim to continue to model the right way of doing philanthropy, focused on the greatest positive impact possible.

It begins with low costs, but doesn’t stop there.

Our commitment to low costs is not a passing phase. It’s been a cornerstone of Vanguard Charitable since our founding, and we are always on the lookout for ways to lower costs further for you. We take our mission to heart—and we can’t increase philanthropy and maximize its impact unless we’re minimizing fees. When you look at the whole package, our average weighted all-in fee—at just 0.31%—is far lower than almost any other comparable provider.

But high value doesn’t just come through low costs. Anyone can lower costs if they scrimp on service. Instead, we’ve done the opposite, working consistently to add the right philanthropic tools to your toolkit. This year alone, we’ve built out our investment offer, enhanced our contribution processes, and expanded our granting services—while also continuing to lower fees, all in an effort to ensure you are maximizing your giving impact.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the things we accomplished together this past year: