SAS® Visual Analytics helps Fidelity Charitable keep donors informed when disaster strikes

Data-driven dashboard enables second-largest grant maker to provide guidance just when donors need it most

A week after Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc across the Gulf Coast, much of Florida braced itself for Hurricane Irma, one of the Atlantic’s most powerful storms ever recorded. While charitable donors cannot prevent these disasters, they can make a lasting impact on the lives of those affected by strategically directing their contributions.

In the first two weeks following Harvey, Fidelity Charitable made over 8,700 grants, totaling more than $15.7 million in relief support across more than 1,000 charities. And donors have already started an outpouring of support for relief efforts for Irma. Fidelity Charitable uses analytics from SAS to monitor the needs and granting trends for its more than 150,000 donors when disasters like these happen.

The second-largest grant-making organization in the country, Fidelity Charitable uses SAS® Visual Analytics to power its Disaster Grant Dashboard for data exploration, interactive reporting and analytics as part of its overall Disaster Relief Guidance program.

“We’re always improving our Giving Account (donor advised fund) program to make charitable giving simpler and more effective,” said Amy Pirozzolo, Head of Marketing for Fidelity Charitable. “In 2016 alone, donors recommended $3.5 billion in grants to support more than 100,000 charitable organizations in every state and around the globe. The benefit of a donor advised fund is that when disaster strikes, donors already have charitable contributions ‘at the ready’ to immediately aid those in need. The Disaster Grant Dashboard specifically helps us monitor how donors are reacting to national and global news, watching for the ‘tipping point’ so we can quickly highlight the opportunity to assist donors in their charitable grant-making decisions when situations arise.”

Fidelity Charitable monitors grants tied to disasters. When an upward trend is seen, the Disaster Relief Team supports donors with articles, research on charities or webinars. The dashboard helps Fidelity Charitable understand its donors and monitors communications to gauge philanthropic results and impact.

“I appreciate that the information shared with me by Fidelity Charitable ties to my philanthropic goals – whether it’s supporting disaster relief efforts in Texas, education charities or cancer research,” said Rodney Williamson, a Fidelity Charitable donor. “With this knowledge, I’m better equipped to make giving decisions that match not only my personal values and goals, but their verification of relief organizations helps me to ensure my donations go to organizations that will make a difference.”

To learn more about how to support hurricane relief efforts in Texas and Florida, visit https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/articles/how-to-help-hurricane-disaster-relief.shtml.

For information on how SAS Visual Analytics helps people quickly gain business insight, check out this e-book.

About Fidelity Charitable

Fidelity Charitable is an independent public charity that has helped donors support more than 235,000 nonprofit organizations with more than $25 billion in grants. Established in 1991, Fidelity Charitable launched the first national donor-advised fund program. The mission of the organization is to grow the American tradition of philanthropy by providing programs that make charitable giving simple, effective, and accessible. For more information about Fidelity Charitable, visit https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/.