For 25 years, National Philanthropic Trust has helped donors support the charities and causes most important to them. During our 2022 fiscal year, our donors recommended grants to more charitable organizations than ever before, helping over 34,000 nonprofits respond to global challenges with creativity, energy and resolve.
Last year, international turmoil and political uncertainty significantly impacted the economy and our daily lives. Our grants supported organizations that work in disaster recovery, food insecurity, humanitarian relief and more.
NPT’s donors continued to recommend grants to organizations offering vital human services and working to strengthen democracy—all while remaining loyal to schools, faith-based groups and the arts, demonstrating they can support urgent and emerging needs while remaining focused on annual grantmaking goals.
NPT's grantmaking surpassed $5.5B in FY22, driven by more than 100,000 grants supporting over 34,000 different organizations.
I’m particularly proud that, once again, more than half of our donors’ recommended grants were unrestricted, providing recipient organizations with general operating support to allocate where they saw the greatest need.
We can only meet our mission of increasing philanthropy in society through collaboration with others. I am grateful to NPT’s Board of Trustees, our partners, my talented colleagues and most importantly, our generous donors.
Warm Regards,
Eileen R. Heisman
President & CEO
Executive Summary
Since 1996, National Philanthropic Trust has helped individuals, families, foundations and corporations reach their philanthropic goals and maximize their charitable giving. Today we are the nation’s largest independent public charity that manages donor-advised funds (DAFs). In 2022, NPT’s donors continued to respond with generosity to pandemic recovery, supported the humanitarian response to international crises and honored their longtime charitable commitments.
In the 2022 fiscal year, NPT celebrated our 25th anniversary. NPT is more experienced than we were 25 years ago, but our mission remains the same: increasing philanthropy in society. Since NPT’s inception, our donors have recommended more than 540,000 grants totaling more than $21 billion to charitable organizations across 89 countries.
Our 2022 fiscal year, reflected in this report, began July 1, 2021 and ended June 30, 2022. This report provides complete and current information about NPT donors’ response to the pandemic and an evolving charitable landscape.
Grants supported 34,744 unique charities, an increase of 15% compared to FY21.
NPT made nearly 104,000 grants, an increase of 18% compared to FY21.
2022 Grantmaking Impact Stories
In FY22, our donors recommended grants to a wide variety of charitable organizations, from international NGOs to community-based nonprofits, as they responded to global concerns and addressed needs in their communities. The organizations represented here are a sample of our donor-recommended grants.
Serving Afghan and Ukrainian Refugees
HIAS: The historic refugee-serving organization continues to help displaced populations fleeing violence, oppression and discrimination worldwide. One donor recommended a grant of $400,000 to be split between HIAS’ program to assist refugees from Afghanistan and another assisting those from Ukraine. The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan resulted in a massive evacuation response, with tens of thousands of Afghans airlifted from the country. By the end of 2022, HIAS had helped resettle thousands of Afghans across the U.S.
In early 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine created an unprecedented refugee crisis in Europe. Since that time, HIAS has deployed $35 million to assist Ukrainian refugees, with a sizable portion devoted to the specific needs of women and girls.
Fighting Hunger Year-Round
Maryland Food Bank: Charitable support, like a $10,000 grant recommendation from an NPT donor, was crucial during the pandemic for organizations addressing food insecurity, and it remains so. In 2022, Maryland Food Bank distributed more than 40 million meals across the state through programs that address hunger year-round, as well as public policy efforts confronting hunger’s root causes.
Recognizing the increased pressure on many families during the summer months when they can no longer rely on schools to provide meals for their children, the organization created a Summer Club, a program where kids can receive healthy foods all summer through 40 different community-based partner organizations.
Reducing Emissions to Protect the Planet
Nature Conservancy: As one of the world’s leading environmental organizations, the Nature Conservancy is at the center of nature-based solutions to the climate crisis. The organization is convening policy makers, scientists and grassroots activists to meet a 2030 target of reducing three billion metric tons of CO2 annually and preserving 650 hectares of land.
One NPT donor recommended a $400,000 grant to help meet these ambitious goals. Nature Conservancy experts are at work across the globe: supporting forest restoration in China, improving the way seaweed is harvested in Zanzibar, and rewilding Berlin’s parks and green spaces with grazing sheep.
Centering Black Art
The National Black Arts Festival: A grant of $7,500 celebrates and uplifts Black voices by supporting emerging artists, nurturing creative expression in young people and showcasing commissioned work and performances during an annual festival.
Harnessing the Ocean’s Power in Climate Science
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: A $275,000 grant helps this historic research organization provide scientists and policymakers with detailed data on the planet’s oceans, which may hold the key to preventing climate change’s most damaging effects.
Focusing on Effective Malaria Prevention
Against Malaria Foundation: A $70,000 grant helps purchase and distribute 35,000 LLINs (Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets) at a cost of $2.00 each, an effective intervention for preventing malaria infection. Against Malaria has distributed more than 225 million nets across the world with the support of donors.
Welcoming Afghan Women
Women for Afghan Women: A grant of $50,000 helps provide essential services to Afghans arriving in the U.S., helping them to gain economic, social and political autonomy and seeking to reduce gender-based violence and discrimination.
Where Nature and Nation Meet
National Park Foundation: A $10,000 grant helps ensure America’s national parks are sustainably managed and climate-resilient, while improving the visitor experience and recruiting a diverse workforce.
Library Access for All
Free Library of Philadelphia: A $15,000 grant helps provide Philadelphians with access to education, training, workforce and business development and child literacy opportunities. Support for Philadelphia’s public library system also helps bridge the digital divide with internet hot spots, mobile classrooms and technology education for adults and seniors.
Building Wealth and Wellbeing
First Nations Development Institute: When Native people are in control of their own lands, economies and resources, communities flourish. A grant of $200,000 helps provide economic and financial security, small business support and COVID-19 relief.
Art in the Streets
Mural Arts Philadelphia: Philadelphia is one of the world’s best cities for public art, thanks in no small part to Mural Arts. A $10,000 grant helps fund the nation’s largest public arts program through arts education, restorative justice and community wellness programs.
The Power of a Plot
One Acre Fund: A $2 million grant supports smallholder farms with supplies, training and financing across nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa, improving farmer, family and community health and prosperity. In 2021, the One Acre Fund served more than 1.4 million farmers, improving their profits by $150 million.
A Legacy of Service
Pat Tillman Foundation: A $25,000 grant supports the Tillman Scholars program, which every year provides 60 exceptional veterans and military spouses with scholarship support to pursue meaningful careers in government, business, religious leadership, science, law and medicine.
A Healthy Start for Parents and Babies
Nurse-Family Partnership: A $25,000 grant helps this organization provide personal nurses to qualifying moms-to-be who will work together throughout pregnancy and infancy to ensure family health and wellbeing.
Safety and Support
Project HOME: A grant of $45,000 helps offer permanent subsidized housing and comprehensive services and outreach to families and individuals experiencing homelessness.
Making Lifesaving Matches
Asian American Donor Program: A $10,000 grant helps coordinate suitable matches between donors and patients across the Asian American community who are in need of blood stem cell and bone marrow transplants.
Essential Journalism Covering America’s Schools
Chalkbeat: Nonprofit online newsroom Chalkbeat covers education policy and school districts across the country. A $1 million grant helps the site publish crucial news and analysis for teachers, parents and the public.
Hope for Families Worldwide
St. Jude Children's Hospital: A grant of $10,000 to help ensure that the patients and their families at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital never receive a bill. In 2022, St. Jude helped patients affected by the war in Ukraine access essential medical treatment and transported several Ukrainian patients directly to St. Jude’s locations.
Grantmaking Generosity Continues
For the fifth year in a row, NPT donors recommended over $1 billion in grants to charitable organizations. The majority of grants were unrestricted, general operating support. Ninety-seven percent of our donors included identifying information with the grants they recommended. On December 27, 2021, donors recommended the highest number of grants in a single day for the fiscal year, totaling 2,063 grants.
Unrestricted Grants
66%
Highest Daily Grant Volume
2,063
Grantmaking Technology
NPT continued to improve technology and operations with our new online donor portal, NPT GivingPoint, which saw record traffic in 2022.
GivingPoint is designed to power donors’ philanthropy by allowing them to manage their DAFs wherever they go. With GivingPoint, donors can easily contribute to their DAF account, recommend grants and recommend adjustments to their investment strategy.
Total GivingPoint Users
11,000+
Total GivingPoint Sessions
25,000+
Grantmaking Fields of Interest
The IRS uses “Major Group” categories to classify U.S. charitable organizations by field of interest. NPT donors’ recommended grants to the top three categories—Public and Societal Benefit, Human Services and Education—represented nearly seventy percent of NPT’s grantmaking by dollar value. The Health, Religion, Environment and Animals and International fields also experienced significant growth in grant value compared to last year.
TOTAL VALUE ($) GRANTS BY FIELD OF INTEREST FY22
TOTAL NUMBER OF GRANTS BY FIELD OF INTEREST FY22 (IN THOUSANDS)
Donors recommended the largest number of grants to the Human Services field of interest, followed by Religion, Education and Health.
Grantmaking Trends
Our donors recommended grants to their longtime charitable interests as well as new causes. Their response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine led to a significant increase in global grantmaking. Donors also recommended grants to a greater number of charities than ever before, a jump of 15%.
0 Value of International Grants
0 Number of Charities Supported
How Our Donors Fund Their Philanthropy
NPT’s donors contribute cash, appreciated securities and complex assets to their donor-advised funds. They can also take advantage of NPT’s impact investment options to complement their grantmaking strategies.
Donors can use their DAFs to support charitable missions today, to make multi-year recurring commitments over time and to grow assets for transformational grants in the future.
CHARITABLE ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT FY18 – FY22
NPT'S TOTAL ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT AS OF JUNE 30 EACH FISCAL YEAR
Consolidated Statements
Leadership
Board of Trustees (at time of publication)
Suzanne Yoon – CHAIR
Joram Borenstein
Ann Dugan
Julius Green, CPA, JD
Eileen R. Heisman
Stephen Hopkins
Dirk Jungé
Linda K. Myers
Lisa Pattis
Eric Reeves
Diana L. Sands
Paul Schreiber
Manish Shah
David Wezdenko
Kelly Williams, JD
NPT Leadership Team (at time of publication)
Eileen R. Heisman – President and Chief Executive Officer
Christopher Adams – Chief Information Officer
Jai Chanda – Chief Development Officer
Joseph Gajewski – Executive Vice President, Premier Donor Fiduciary Services
Oren Gershon – Senior Vice President, Project Management Office
Andrew W. Hastings – Chief Enterprise Officer
Ellen M. McGuinn – Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Elizabeth Monahan – Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Administration
Jenna Mulhall-Brereton – Chief Philanthropic Solutions Officer
Gil A. Nusbaum – General Counsel
Matthew B. Rovi – Senior Vice President, Institutional Partnerships and Experiences
Andrea Rush – Senior Vice President, Philanthropic Solutions
NPT is not affiliated with any of the organizations described herein, and the inclusion of any organization in this material should not be considered an endorsement by NPT of such organization, or its services or products.
Photographs courtesy: Alan Chin/HIAS, Maryland Food Bank, National Black Arts Festival, National Park Foundation, Against Malaria Foundation, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Free Library of Philadelphia, Women for Afghan Women, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Allan Gichigi/One Acre Fund, Pat Tillman Foundation, First Nations Development Institute, Asian American Donor Program, Project HOME, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Allison Shelley/EDUimages/Chalkbeat. Other photos: iStock/Getty Images.