Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Giving just got cheaper

Fidelity Investments, the largest vendor of donor advised funds in the USA, has lowered the minimum gift needed to open a fund. It also lowered the minimum gift amount that can be advised from the fund. Effective this week, a donor can open a fund with as little as $5,000 and can direct gifts as small as $100. The full details are available from Fidelity.

What will other vendors - commercial funds and community foundations - do? Time will tell.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How far do you think the minimum can fall over time? ING Direct offers savings accounts with a high yield and a $1 minimum and no fees. Given the due diligence that a donor advised fund must do when sending out grants, do you think that the future may hold an ING Direct DAF account with a $1 minimum? Or will the minimum for a DAF stop at a higher level?