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The 2020 DAF Report Is Here

February 11, 2021 - Last week, National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) released its 2020 Donor-Advised Fund Report, which captures data from the 2019 fiscal year. Since the new Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Report is focused on 2019 data, it does not cover the philanthropic response to the pandemic in 2020. For this reason, NPT also conducted and released their DAF COVID Grantmaking Survey, which analyzes DAF grantmaking in the first six months of 2020. Let’s take a look at the new information provided by NPT.

2020 DAF Report Summary

  • The number of individual DAFs rose by 19.4 percent compared to 2018, to a total of 873,228 accounts. As the number of total DAFs grew, the average DAF size fell 2.7 percent to $162,556.
  • Contributions to DAFs increased by 7.5 percent compared to 2018 and totaled $38.81 billion.
  • Charitable assets in DAFs grew by 16.2 percent to $141.95 billion.
  • Grants from DAFs to qualified charities increased by 15.4 percent compared to 2018 and totaled an estimated $27.37 billion.
  • The payout rate for 2019 was 22.4 percent.

The key takeaway? The DAF continues its meteoric rise in popularity. More and more individuals are choosing to maximize their charitable impact by using this giving vehicle. As the contributions to DAFs increase, so also the grants from DAFs increase. The annual payout rate from DAFs has exceeded 20% every year on record.

DAF COVID Grantmaking Survey Summary

  • Grantmaking increased by 66 percent between early 2019 and early 2020, far more than typical year-over-year growth.
  • The dollar value of grants to charity increased by 29.8 percent in the first six months of 2020 compared to the first six months of 2019.
  • The number of grants to charity increased by 37.4 percent when comparing the first six months of 2020 to the first six months of 2019.

The key takeaway? Donors who have previously donated assets to their DAF are poised to meet the needs of charities in times of recession or market disturbance. When the pandemic hit, DAF donors responded by increasing their grantmaking. DAF donors were able to sustain their usual charitable support and meet new needs which arose during those first months of 2020.

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