For some donors, the ever-changing world around us not only inspires and sharpens their philanthropic focus, but it also brings newer and bigger giving opportunities. Post-pandemic, our donors are factoring in not only their own life changes but also the uncertainty of the world around them.

In 2022, individual fundholders awarded more than 9,600 grants and expanded their impact with increases in the average size of grants – reaching $26,000, a 27% increase in size from 2018, with a median grant size of $1,875. Contributions to FFTC’s Center for Personal Philanthropy have grown steadily since the pandemic, topping $800 million in 2022 – that’s up from $535 million in 2021 and $241 million in 2020.

The Sleepers first established a donor advised fund through his employer when they began to be more intentional with their charitable giving. When he retired in 2019, Sleeper chose to move their fund to FFTC.

Donors also demonstrated a deeper commitment to long-term sustainable funding sources, such as endowed funds. Over the past five years the average contribution to endowed funds – which are structured to ensure a perpetual source of funding year after year – has increased 56%, evidence that our donors are thinking of the long-term health of the nonprofits they support.

Many fundholders are introduced to the Foundation through their financial advisors who see the benefit of philanthropic giving and working with a community foundation such as FFTC. Often those fundholders, like in the case of Ted Williams, are making choices because they’ve come to a major life decision.

“We sold the media business covering Charlotte,” Williams said, “so it was important to us that our philanthropic dollars go back into the local community.”

Cancer Diagnosis Leads Family to Give Back

When Doug Sleeper reflects on his philanthropic journey, he describes it as beginning like a lot of others who worked in the corporate sector. A longtime executive with Wachovia and then Wells Fargo, he initially gave primarily through his company’s workplace giving campaigns. But over time, and in the wake of his and his wife’s own experiences, their giving became personal.

“You get to a point in life where there are causes that mean something to you,” said Sleeper. “We give to different causes, sometimes to support a friend or when an associate asks us. But where we really lean in is cancer and cancer research.”