New Asset Allocation Pools Provide One-Step Implementation for Donors

BOSTON, November 1, 2004 -- The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, one of the nation's largest public charities, today announced an uptick in charitable giving for the first nine months of 2004, indicating that non-profit organizations could greatly benefit from increased giving this holiday season.

During this time, the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund recorded a 13 percent increase in donor contributions, which rose to $311 million from $276 million during the same period in 2003. As part of the uptick, grants to nonprofit organizations increased by six percent to $443 million through September 2004, compared to $419 million during the same time in 2003. Additionally, the Gift Fund reported that the number of new Giving Accounts increased by 33 percent this year.

"The year-end holiday season is an extremely important time for the nation's nonprofit organizations," said Jon Skillman, president, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund. "Our year-to-date data reflects signs for continued strength in giving during the fourth quarter, which not only highlights the continued generosity of our donors but indicates that 2004 will be a successful year for U.S. charities."

In anticipation of a strong giving season, the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund is expanding its investment offerings to include three new asset allocation pools and an international investment pool. With the introduction of these asset allocation pools donors can now choose between two approaches for the recommended investment management of contributions to the Gift Fund: a one-step implementation using the asset allocation pools or a custom strategy using a selection of the individual pools to build their own investment allocation.

New Investing Options Simplify Giving

The three asset allocation pools simplify charitable giving by allowing donors to recommend that their contributions be invested in just one easy step, based on their risk tolerance, time horizon and giving goals. These pools, which have a pre-determined investment mix and are periodically rebalanced, allow those with a longer giving timeframe to recommend a more aggressive pool which holds a significant allocation of equities and, conversely, those with a shorter giving timeframe to recommend a more conservative pool. The pools include the:

•		Legacy GivingSM Pool -- Created for donors who have a long time horizon and expect to use their Giving Account for a period of 10 years or longer. The pool targets a blend of 70 percent equities, 25 percent fixed income and five percent money market funds.
•		Lifetime GivingSM Pool -- Targeting a blend of 50 percent equities, 40 percent fixed income and 10 percent money market funds, this pool is best suited for donors who wish to make their grants within the next five to 10 years.
•		Preservation GivingSM Pool -- Suitable for donors who prefer a conservative allocation or who intend to recommend grants to nonprofit organizations within the next two to five years. The pool targets 20 percent equities, 50 percent fixed income and 30 percent money market funds.

"While conservative investment options, such as money market funds, may provide preservation of capital, they may not offer the potential accumulation that donors need if they wish to create a long-term giving legacy," said Skillman. "We have designed these asset allocation pools to simplify the giving process for donors, so that they can focus on what matters most to them, their philanthropy."

Donors can also create their own asset allocation strategy which they can rebalance themselves, by recommending that their contributions be invested in individual investment pools. With the addition of the International Pool, which invests in diversified funds from developed and emerging markets worldwide, the Gift Fund now offers donors five individual pools ranging from capital preservation to growth. All of the new investment pools are available to Gift Fund donors.

A Full View for Advisors

In addition to its new investment options, the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund also announced it has integrated with AdvisorCHANNEL^®, Fidelity's brokerage platform, allowing independent registered investment advisors to, with client authorization, download their clients' Giving Account balances and investment pool allocations to their portfolio management system. As a result, advisors have a consolidated view of their clients' charitable contributions with investment holdings custodied at Fidelity, helping them to more efficiently manage their clients' philanthropic goals in the context of their overall wealth management plan.

"Although charitable giving has financial implications, research shows that many advisors and donors may not discuss giving decisions during the overall financial planning process," said Skillman. "Integrating the Gift Fund within Fidelity's brokerage platform and providing data interfaces with portfolio management systems can help advisors more easily incorporate the topic of charitable giving into broader planning discussions, which is particularly important at year-end."

About Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund

The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, a donor-advised fund and one of the nation's largest independent public charities, was established by Fidelity Investments^® in 1992. The purpose of the Gift Fund is to substantially increase the level of charitable giving in America. Since the Gift Fund's inception, more than 32,000 donors have recommended grants totaling more than $4.4 billion to more than 84,000 nonprofit organizations nationwide. For more information on the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, visit charitablegift.org.

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The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund ("Fund") is an independent public charity and donor-advised fund. Various Fidelity companies provide investment management and administrative services to the Fund.

Charitable Gift Fund, the Charitable Gift Fund logo, Lifetime Giving, Legacy Giving and Preservation Giving are service marks, and Giving Account is a registered service mark, of the Trustees of the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund. Fidelity is a service mark of FMR Corp. used by the Fund under license.