When Wall Street Overrides Your Giving, Your Local Community Foundation Will Not
Three of the largest corporate donor-advised fund (DAF) platforms in the country: Fidelity Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, and DAFgiving360 (the charitable arm of Charles Schwab), have blocked their account holders from directing grants to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Their justification: a federal indictment filed by the Department of Justice.
The SPLC has spent more than 55 years doing some of the most important civil rights work in American history. Winning landmark legal battles against the Ku Klux Klan, tracking and exposing violent hate groups, and defending the rights of vulnerable communities. To be clear, an indictment is not the same as a conviction. But whatever the ultimate legal outcome, donors who have spent years supporting this work deserve to have their charitable intent honored.
At Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation (LAMVCF), we believe giving should reflect your values, not the political calculations of a Wall Street donor platform managing its regulatory risk.
What Happened and Why It Matters Here
On April 21, 2026, a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted the SPLC on financial charges that the organization has vigorously denied, calling the prosecution politically motivated. Within days, Fidelity Charitable and Vanguard Charitable, two of the three largest DAF sponsors in the United States, suspended all grants to SPLC from their platforms. DAFgiving360 followed shortly after.
Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View are home to a significant concentration of donor-advised fund holders. For donors here and the broader South Bay who have historically supported civil rights organizations, immigrant rights groups, or social justice causes, this is not an abstract policy question. It is a direct constraint on your ability to give as you see fit.
Community Foundations Are Built Differently
LAMVCF was founded in 1991 on a straightforward belief: that a community foundation rooted in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View, accountable to its neighbors, not to shareholders, could mobilize local generosity in ways that national financial platforms never could. Thirty-five years later, we have distributed more than $125 million in grants and built a philanthropic infrastructure that is genuinely community-owned.
When you hold a DAF at a corporate platform, you are a customer. When you hold a DAF through Community Giving at LAMVCF, you are a partner. Our mission is not to manage financial risk or satisfy regulators. Our mission is to connect the generosity of our neighbors with the needs of our community.
We will not override your grant recommendations based on political pressure. We will not decide, on your behalf, which civil rights organizations are too controversial to support. We are guided by our donors and our values. That will not change.
It's Time to Bring Your DAF Home
If you hold a donor-advised fund at Fidelity Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, or DAFgiving360 and want to ensure that your charitable giving is always governed by your values, not by a corporate platform's political risk appetite, we invite you to move your DAF to LAMVCF's Community Giving program.
Transferring a DAF is a straightforward process. You do not lose your assets or your giving history. You gain a partner that knows this community, shares your commitment to it, and will never substitute Washington's judgment for yours.
To learn more or start the process:
- Visit lamvcf.org/open-a-daf
- Email info@LAMVCF.org
- Call 650-949-5908
- Give directly to the SPLC at splcenter.org
Ready to move your DAF to LAMVCF? Email Kathy Lera at KathyLera@lamvcf.org
At this moment, the question every philanthropist in our region should ask is simple: does your giving platform share your values? If the answer is uncertain, there is a community foundation right here, locally rooted, and unambiguously on your side.