Nurturing DAF Donors into Long Term Giving

A donor advised fund (DAF) is a charitable investment account that is established by a donor at a public charity. This charity is known as a supporting organization and exists to manage accounts that are created specifically for the purpose of charitable giving.

Donors contribute assets into these accounts and make grants to support the charitable causes important to them. DAFs have grown in popularity, with an estimate of nearly $300 billion in charitable assets held in them in 2025. The National Philanthropic Trust estimates that there are nearly 1.7 million separate DAF accounts in the US.

DAF payout rates have remained remarkably consistent over the years; it is forecasted that potentially $68 billion in grants to nonprofits could be recommended in 2025.

By analyzing your current donors and how they give, you may be able to better isolate those donors who are DAF holders and how to better nurture them as a reliable source of long-term giving.

How Do You Know if a Donor is using a Donor Advised Fund to Give?

The DAF Research Collaborative and their report “Reinventing the Cycle: Adapting Relationship Fundraising for Donors Who Use DAFs”  provides easy-to-understand guidance on how to identify when a grant from a donor is done through their donor advised fund.

Clues to look for include:

-Look for the name of the DAF sponsor organization name and the DAF account name in the grant letter. For recordkeeping, both the DAF sponsor organization name and the DAF account name should be recorded as a hard credit in your donor database.

-Read the letter to verify that the stated purpose does not include any tangible benefits.

-Look for the donor’s name and address, if available. This information can be stored as a soft credit in your donor database.

-If you have received a physical check, the name of the DAF sponsor organization will be on the check.

You Identified a DAF Donor: Now What?

Once you have done the relevant detective work and determined that a donor used a DAF to give, identify them as a DAF donor in your donor management software. This is important long-term so that the development professionals at the nonprofit can isolate DAF holders as a distinct audience and nurture them for continued giving.

A DAF donor is someone who has put thought into how they want to give as evidenced by the fact that: 1.) they chose to create a donor advised fund 2.) they have a level of charitable wealth large enough to make opening a DAF a practical financial choice.

Ask them why they opened a DAF. They may be very open into why they chose to create a DAF and share their thoughts on what sort of impact they want to make. Since a DAF holder already have put dollars aside for giving, a fundraiser should be able to ask for a donation with confidence knowing that dollars are available.

At Generosity Nexus, helping nonprofits better identify how to grow their DAF givers is one of the many areas of philanthropic expertise that we offer. Don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment to learn more about how we can help you.