Donor-Advised Funds Exceeded Pre-Recession Levels in 2011, Report Finds

National Philanthropic Trust studied 652 charitable organizations that administer donor-advised funds. Estimated charitable contributions in the United States in 2011 totaled $298 billion. Of those contributions, donor-advised fund accounts received $9.64 billion, or 3.2 percent of the total charitable giving for the year. In turn, grants to charitable organizations from donor-advised fund accounts totaled $7.7 billion. This marks the fifth consecutive year in which grants from donor-advised fund accounts have been more than $6 billion, and the first year ever that the total exceeds $7 billion.