A conversation with Vanguard Charitable’s Rebecca Moffett

Moffett: My philanthropic roots lie with my family and my education. My grandfather was a steadfast supporter of many charities, and my mother was a special education teacher. When I was a student at St. Joseph’s University, the Jesuit tradition of being “with and for others” really resonated with me.

At Vanguard Charitable, I get to work with so many generous people and organizations every day that it’s impossible not to be inspired.

As you may know, donors who set up donor-advised funds (DAFs) with Vanguard Charitable can recommend when, where, and how to make grants from the donated assets. Having low-cost, well-constructed investments has enabled our donors to grow these assets—all for the benefit of their favorite charities. Seeing how our donors have used DAFs’ unique flexibility to respond to COVID-19, hurricanes, wildfires, the war in Ukraine, and more, all while remaining dedicated to their long-term giving plans, has been incredibly rewarding, as DAFs have proven to be an indispensable lifeline for charities. And Vanguard Charitable team members work tirelessly to make this all happen. I am surrounded by inspiration.

Moffett: While the nature and frequency of crises have been alarming in recent years, I’m not surprised that Americans have responded with tremendous generosity. Importantly, our survey also indicated that donors’ generosity doesn’t stop at disaster relief. We learned that people who give to disaster relief efforts tend to give more to charity overall, and that disaster relief does not crowd out their other giving priorities.

We see the same phenomenon among Vanguard Charitable donors. Our donors who gave to disaster relief in the past year granted twice as much to charity as those who didn’t give to relief efforts ($138,645 versus $68,243, on average). Other notable priorities included racial justice, human services, education, religious giving, and more.

The granting tools, tax-efficiency, and investment capabilities of DAFs amplify the giving potential of individuals and families. DAFs put these donors in the position of being able to respond to urgent needs while staying true to their long-term charitable vision.

Moffett: Another Harris Poll survey for Vanguard Charitable last year found donors give for many reasons, with only 11% identifying tax benefits as a driving force. The most common sources of inspiration were a personal experience (27%), current events or news stories (24%), and a pre-determined charitable budget (22%).

So the decision to give is often grounded in a donor’s personal experiences. But the amount that donors choose to give can be influenced by tax incentives and other financial realities. To the degree that we as a society can create and preserve incentives for giving more, we’ll have a stronger and more resilient charitable sector. 

Moffett: It’s true that overhead often carries a stigma. However, it’s important to recognize that expenses such as talent, technology, or physical space are really investments in the mission of an organization. In well-run nonprofits, such expenses help expand the organization’s impact.

When asked, nearly 60% of our grant recipients indicated a strong preference for unrestricted funding. Of course, these charities are grateful for any gift and are committed to honoring donor intent. But it can be particularly beneficial for an organization to direct funding to its highest priorities, whether that’s providing more services or upgrading vital computer systems, which in turn can bolster a charity’s ability to serve.

Donors also have become more attuned to measuring the impact of their giving. They are dedicated to seeing meaningful results, not just giving for giving’s sake. And this focus generally leads them to expand the reach of their giving and seek out innovative efforts to solve persistent problems. At the same time, it’s important to remember the power of trust-based philanthropy. Unrestricted giving shows tremendous faith in the work that a nonprofit is and has been doing.

Moffett: We’ve developed strong partnerships, not only with donors and nonprofits, but with stakeholders throughout the nonprofit sector. We partner with numerous other organizations that provide data and insights, work to make international granting easier for our U.S.-based donors, and seek to connect donors to high-performing nonprofits.

One project I’m particularly proud of is the way we leveraged our position in and knowledge of the charitable sector in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19 to launch the Nonprofit Aid Visualizer ^TM (NAVi), a first-of-its-kind charity search tool that is free and open to the public. It allows people to pinpoint hardworking charities on the front lines of persistent challenges including the pandemic, hunger, and homelessness.

Rebecca Moffett is president of Vanguard Charitable, a national donor-advised fund provider and one of the nation's top grantmakers, offering meaningful charitable giving solutions to individuals and families. As a long-time donor-advised fund leader and advocate, Moffett focuses on furthering the benefits of giving for donors, nonprofit partners, and communities around the globe. She earned her bachelor’s degree and MBA from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.