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December 7, 2021 - National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) recently released its 2021 Donor-Advised Fund Report, which captures data from the 2020 fiscal year. Let’s take a look at the new information provided by NPT.

• The total number of individual DAFs reached 1,005,099, a 16.3 percent increase over 2019 and the first time the number of DAFs has broken the 1 million mark. The donor-advised fund continues to be an increasingly popular giving vehicle among donors.
• As the number of DAFs grew, the average DAF size fell 5.5 percent to $159,019. Some sponsoring organizations have low contribution minimums, making the DAF a highly accessible giving vehicle.
• Contributions to DAFs increased by 20.6 percent compared to 2019 and totaled $47.85 billion, despite economic volatility and the global crisis of COVID-19.
• Charitable assets within DAFs grew by 9.9 percent to $159.83 billion. One of the key features of a DAF is that the contributions are invested to grow tax-free, potentially resulting in more money available to grant to charity.
• Grants from DAFs to qualified charities increased by 27 percent compared to 2019 and totaled an estimated $34.67 billion. This is the first time grants have exceeded $30 billion and the highest grant increase in a decade. With dedicated charitable dollars in their accounts, DAF-holders were poised to respond to the many needs the world faced in 2020.
• The DAF payout rate for 2020 was 23.8 percent. The payout rate has exceeded 20% every year on record, indicating that DAF-holders are dependable and consistent givers.

We've displayed all the above statistics graphically in this handy PDF.

If your nonprofit would like to learn more about how to successfully engage with your donors about DAFs, check out this article. If you’re an individual who is interested in learning more about the ways a DAF could benefit you and your charities of choice, call our Client Partner Communications Specialist at 214.978.3303.