Strategic Uses of Donor Advised Funds
A new publication from ASF explains how Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) and private foundations can be used in tandem. Strategic Uses of Donor Advised Funds, looks at how DAFs work and how foundation managers use DAFs to further a foundation’s philanthropic goals.
In general, DAFs can be good complements to private foundations when foundation managers:
- Want support with administrative tasks or due diligence in approving grantees
- Seek assistance in fulfilling grantmaking duties or managing a portion of investments
- Seek to use a fund’s name to honor a legacy
- Find that privacy is important for a particular donor or particular grant
- Wish to establish a fund for trustees’ discretionary grants or centralize off-mission grants
- Seek a training ground for the next generation
- Want to allocate funds to a grantee that will receive them in hand at a later date
- Want to encourage collaborative giving in a community or among other foundations
- Need to deposit funds for short- or long-term giving after a private foundation closes
DAFs can also be great tools for individual donors for the reasons above; in addition, they can allow individual donors to maximize their tax deductions and receive support when getting started in formal philanthropy.