Chapter 37: Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Basics

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are the fastest growing form of giving in the United States (National Philanthropic Trust, 2019) and they are changing the way many donors give to charity. While DAFs offer many benefits to donors, they can present challenges to traditional fundraising methods. This chapter describes the key characteristics of DAFs and how donors use them. Fundraisers will learn how to cultivate, solicit, and steward DAF donors. The chapter also discusses the history of DAF growth, the impact DAFs are making on the giving sector, and the critical issues that make DAFs controversial.

Danielle Vance-McMullen

Danielle Vance-McMullen, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Nonprofit Management at DePaul University. She uses Big Data and behavioral experiments to research donor behavior and nonprofit competition in new charitable giving contexts. She is active in donor-advised fund research and is a co-founder of the Donor-Advised Fund Research Collaborative.

H. Daniel Heist

H. Daniel Heist, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Nonprofit Management in the Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at Brigham Young University. His research focuses on charitable giving, philanthropy, and volunteering. His nine years of professional fundraising experience inform his research and teaching. Dr. Heist is a leading expert on donor-advised funds and co-founder of the Donor-Advised Fund Research Collaborative.

Danielle Vance-McMullen and Dan Heist discuss the chapter with Bill Stanczykiewicz, Achieving Excellence editor and Director of The Fund Raising School.