COVID-19 Response and Resources

Read our DAF COVID Grantmaking Survey to learn about the generosity of DAF donors during COVID-19.

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From the way we work to the way we socialize, we have all made significant changes in our daily lives as we adjust to COVID-19.

One thing that remains constant is the help we offer to others. As your partner in giving, NPT is committed to its mission—to increase philanthropy in society.

Since 1996, NPT has helped donors like you make more than 346,000 grants totaling more than $8.8 billion to charities all over the world. Our donors are using their donor-advised funds (DAFs) to respond to this crisis in record numbers, recommending more grants this past spring than any in NPT’s history.

We pledge to be there to help our donors support our respective communities in the challenges we are all facing. We are responding promptly to our donors’ requests to initiate new contributions, recommend investment allocations and suggest new grants. We are maintaining our normal high service standards to ensure that our donors’ philanthropy can be mobilized where it is most needed.

If you wish to recommend a grant to charity now, please log in to your DAF account and click the RECOMMEND A GRANT button. And if you wish to open a new DAF to set yourself up for future grantmaking, visit Open a Donor-Advised Fund Account to get started.

If you are wondering how best to reconfigure your grantmaking during this difficult time, consider the following tips:

• Think globally. The impact of COVID-19 are is felt around the world, and people are reaching across borders with assistance and aid. If there is a charity overseas you would like to support, your NPT DAF can facilitate international grants. You may also wish to explore whether impact investing—either with our thematic portfolios, or a customized portfolio—could help you have a positive impact on vulnerable populations even before you make a grant.
• Act locally. Some of the most urgent needs are here at home. Consider giving to your local food bank, homeless shelter or wellness clinic, whose needs will be enhanced during this time. Your local community foundation is uniquely positioned to direct your gift where and how it is most needed; community foundations in this country have already mobilized more than $1 billion to direct relief from COVID-19.
• Explore uncommon contributions. You can contribute cash and marketable securities to your NPT DAF, and you can even contribute with a credit card. But if you are looking for more ways to give, now may be the time to explore complex or illiquid gifts. NPT can help you convert gifts of real estate, art, collectibles or other assets into charitable capital. What’s more, you can rest assured that contributing to your DAF now will allow you to be responsive to charitable needs later.
• Give without restriction. The majority of grants made from NPT DAFs are “unrestricted”: given for use at the charity’s discretion. This kind of flexible support is crucial as charities shift their priorities to more urgent needs, and as they anticipate both the immediate and long-term effects of this pandemic on the people they serve. Review your recurring grants in the donor portal and consider making an unrestricted grant to your favorite charity.

NPT Webinar: How to Support Your Clients’ Giving in the Time of COVID-19

To learn more about how to support disease outbreak prevention and recovery through your philanthropy, please explore the following resources:

Philanthropic Guidance From NPT

• A Message From Our CEO: Innovation in a Time of Crisis (NPT)
• WEBINAR: How You Can Support Your Clients’ Giving in the Time of COVID-19 (NPT)
• Due Diligence: How NPT Protects Donors from COVID-19 Charity Scams (NPT)
• How Our Philanthropic Partners Are Leading Through COVID-19 (NPT) 
  
• What the CARES Act Means for Philanthropic Clients (NPT)
• Leading Change Locally: How Community Foundations are Addressing the COVID-19 Crisis (NPT)
• The Ripple Effects of a Pandemic: The Why and How of Supporting Community Efforts During the COVID-19 Crisis (NPT)
• How Philanthropists Can Help Prevent and Respond to Disease Outbreaks (NPT)

Guidance on Disaster Philanthropy

• Giving in the Time of COVID-19 (Wealth Management)
• 6 Steps for Grant Makers to Take Now to Ensure Nonprofits Recover From Coronavirus Spread (Chronicle of Philanthropy)
• COVID-19 Coronavirus: How Philanthropy Can Respond (Center for Disaster Philanthropy)
• Basic Tips for Disaster Giving (Center for Disaster Philanthropy)
• Coronavirus – 2019-CoV Resources (Charity Navigator)

Charities to Support

• Charities Providing Direct Relief for the COVID-19 Pandemic (NPT)
• The Nonprofits and Companies Helping to Fight the Pandemic (Wired)
• COVID-19 Response and Recovery Funds (National Center for Family Philanthropy)
• CDC Foundation Coronavirus Fund (CDC Foundation)
• Coronavirus Relief Fund (GlobalGiving)
• Coronavirus and COVID-19 Funds (Giving Compass)