The Fidelity® Charitable Gift Fund (“Gift Fund”), the nation’s largest donor-advised fund program and the third largest public charity reported the strongest first quarter for contributions and grants in its 19-year history.

Incoming contributions to the Gift Fund for the quarter rose 109 percent to $270 million, from $129 million in the first quarter of 2009, while donors recommended grants totaling $269 million to nonprofits nationwide, up 35 percent from $199 million during the same period last year.

In another milestone, the Gift Fund crossed the threshold of $10 billion in grants to nonprofit organizations recommended by its donors since its inception in 1991.