Charitable Arm Of Fidelity Investments Is New Top Charity In U.S.

What's the biggest charity in the U.S.? Let me be more specific... if you had to guess which charity raised the most private money, what would you guess?

Probably not the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, a spin-off of Boston-based financial services giant Fidelity Investments. Yet, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund collected $4.6 billion in 2015, a 20 percent increase over 2014. In contrast, the United Way, at number two, collected $3.7 billion.

The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund is a so-called donor advised fund. But some critics see such funds as more of a tax-shelter than actual philanthropy.

Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. She tweets @StacyPalmer.