The $327 Billion You're Not Asking For: Why Your Nonprofit Has No DAF Strategy (and How to Build One)

If your nonprofit’s donation page says “give online” but never mentions donor-advised funds, you may be making an easy gift unnecessarily difficult.

That does not mean every nonprofit is automatically missing millions. The data does not support that claim. But it does show that donor-advised funds are a significant and growing part of charitable giving: and many mid-sized organizations have no intentional system for welcoming those gifts.

The latest Annual DAF Report 2025 updated analysis, released by the Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative in spring 2026, reports $327.87 billion in DAF assets and $64.60 billion in grants to charities for fiscal year 2024.

Those are two different numbers:

• Assets are funds held in donor-advised accounts.
• Grants are charitable distributions recommended from those accounts.
• The report also recorded $90.57 billion in contributions into DAFs during FY 2024.

The opportunity is not to chase a shiny new revenue stream. It is to make your existing fundraising system easier for donors to use.

Stop Treating DAFs Like a Specialty Gift. They Are a Giving Method.

A donor-advised fund is a charitable account maintained by a sponsoring 501(c)(3) organization. A donor contributes assets to the fund, receives the charitable tax deduction at that point, and later recommends grants to eligible charities. The sponsoring organization legally controls the assets while the donor retains advisory privileges over grant recommendations and investments, according to the IRS explanation of donor-advised funds.

That structure changes how the donor interacts with your nonprofit.

A donor writing you a check or entering a credit card number is completing a gift directly with you. A DAF donor is recommending a grant through an intermediary. Your organization may receive the funds from Fidelity Charitable, DAFgiving360, a community foundation, a family foundation, or another sponsor: not from the donor’s personal checking account.

What’s not working: Your website treats DAF giving as a back-office transaction, if it mentions it at all.

The shift: Treat DAFs as one of the standard ways people can support your mission, alongside credit cards, checks, stock, and planned gifts.

That starts with plain language:

“Recommend a grant from your donor-advised fund to support our work.”

No tax lecture. No jargon. No assumption that every visitor understands the term.

DAF Donors Do Not Behave Exactly Like Your Ordinary Individual Donors

You should not build your DAF strategy around the assumption that a DAF donor will respond to the same message, at the same time, through the same channel as a cash donor.

DAF donors often make recommendations through a sponsoring organization’s portal. They may already have money set aside for charitable use. They may also be reviewing several organizations at once, which means your visibility and clarity matter.

The DAF Direct tutorial describes DAF giving as a grant recommendation process: the donor selects a nonprofit, signs into a DAF sponsor account, recommends a grant, and waits for the sponsor’s review and distribution.

That creates several practical differences:

• The donor may not visit your standard donation checkout.
• The gift may arrive by check or electronic transfer from the sponsor.
• The donor may be identified by name, by a fund name, or not clearly identified.
• The timing may not match your appeal calendar.
• A donor may recommend a gift without contacting your development team first.

Reality check: If your team only recognizes donors through your online payment processor, you may not even realize how many DAF gifts you receive.

The shift: Build DAF information into the same places where donors already make decisions.

Make the Gift Easy Before You Ask for More Money

You do not need to create a separate DAF program. You need a few clear improvements to your existing donor experience.

Start with your website:

• Add “Give through your donor-advised fund” to your main donation page.
• Create a short DAF section under “Ways to Give.”
• Include your organization’s exact legal name and EIN.
• Explain that donors can recommend a grant through their DAF sponsor.
• Provide a contact email for DAF questions.
• Link to a DAF recommendation tool if your technology and sponsor relationships support it.
• Make the DAF option visible on mobile, not buried in a footer.

The DAF Direct guidance specifically recommends placing the application prominently near other payment options and integrating it into the payment flow. It also recommends featuring the option in email fundraising campaigns.

Your copy can be simple:

Have a donor-advised fund? You can recommend a grant to [Nonprofit Name] through your DAF sponsor. Use our legal name and EIN when searching for us, or contact [email] if you need help.

Do not overpromise speed. Do not imply that your nonprofit controls the sponsor’s approval process. The donor’s sponsoring organization reviews and distributes the grant.

Train People to Mention DAFs Naturally: Not Awkwardly

Your staff and board members do not need to become tax advisors. They do need to know enough to recognize a relevant conversation.

What’s not working: Asking every donor, “Do you have a donor-advised fund?” in a way that sounds invasive or scripted.

The shift: Mention DAFs when the context makes sense.

For example:

• “Some of our supporters give through donor-advised funds. I’m happy to send you the information if that would be useful.”
• “If you prefer to recommend a grant from a DAF, our website has the instructions.”
• “Would it help if I sent our legal name and EIN for your family foundation or DAF records?”
• “We welcome DAF grants for unrestricted support.”

Add a five-minute DAF overview to:

• New staff orientation.
• Board fundraising training.
• Major donor preparation.
• Year-end campaign planning.
• Gift-processing procedures.

Board members can be especially useful here. They may encounter donors, financial advisors, business owners, and philanthropic families who do not respond to a standard online appeal.

But give your board a specific role. Do not tell them to “go find DAF money.” Ask them to know the language, share the DAF page when appropriate, and identify warm introductions.

Track DAF Gifts Separately, Even When the Data Is Incomplete

Your CRM should distinguish DAF grants from individual checks, credit card gifts, corporate gifts, and foundation grants.

At minimum, track:

• DAF sponsor.
• Date received.
• Amount.
• Donor identity, when available.
• Fund name, when available.
• Designation or restriction.
• Whether the donor has been acknowledged.
• Whether the donor has been added to stewardship communications.

This is not just a reporting preference. It helps you see patterns.

Are DAF grants arriving from a small group of repeat donors? Are they mostly unrestricted? Are they clustered around year-end? Are anonymous grants increasing? Are your acknowledgment procedures working?

Limitation: DAF reporting is not always clean. The intermediary may be listed instead of the individual donor, and some grants may arrive without enough information to identify the person who recommended them. Your team should not guess. Record what you know, document what is missing, and create a process for following up with the sponsor when appropriate.

Also remember that a DAF grant is not the same as a personal pledge payment. DAF rules generally limit grants that provide more than incidental benefits to the donor. Your staff should consult the sponsor and qualified professional advisors about questions involving event tickets, memberships, benefits, or pledge language. The IRS provides additional information about DAF requirements.

Steward DAF Donors Like People: Not Payment Sources

An intermediary does not replace the relationship.

When donor identity is available, acknowledge the person directly and appropriately. Thank them for supporting your work. Share a concise impact update. Invite them to a mission-focused conversation. Do not send only a generic receipt and assume the relationship is complete.

A practical year-round stewardship rhythm might include:

• A personal thank-you within your normal acknowledgment timeline.
• A quarterly impact update.
• One invitation to a program briefing or mission conversation.
• A year-end reminder that DAF grants can support your organization.
• A personal follow-up when a donor makes a second grant.

When the donor is anonymous, thank the sponsoring organization and record the gift accurately. You can still use the gift data for internal analysis, even if you cannot cultivate the individual behind it.

Build a Small System Instead of Launching a Big Program

Your first DAF strategy can fit on one page.

Assign ownership for:

• Updating DAF language on the donation page.
• Checking that your legal name and EIN are accurate.
• Processing incoming DAF grants.
• Recording sponsor and donor information.
• Sending acknowledgments.
• Including DAF language in selected appeals.
• Reviewing DAF activity quarterly.

Then test the system for 90 days.

Measure:

• Number and value of DAF grants.
• Percentage of gifts with donor identity available.
• Time from receipt to acknowledgment.
• Number of online visits to your DAF information.
• Repeat DAF grants.
• Unrestricted versus designated DAF support.

Do not judge the strategy after one email. DAF giving is often a year-round behavior, not a one-campaign tactic.

The point is not to create hype around a $327 billion headline. The point is to stop making donors work harder than necessary to support you.

If your organization needs help connecting fundraising systems, donor stewardship, and revenue goals, Accelerate Change can help you build a practical plan that fits your team’s actual capacity. Inquire about services when you are ready to turn scattered fundraising activity into a more intentional system.