Donor-Advised Funds Increase Annual Giving by 96%, Chariot/K2D Strategies Study Shows
Chariot, a payments company dedicated to Donor Advised Fund (DAF) giving, and K2D Strategies, a full-service direct response fundraising and engagement agency, released the inaugural DAF Fundraising Report on the nonprofit experience with DAF fundraising. The benchmark study shows the increasing effectiveness of DAFs in enabling donors to give more, and more often. Non-DAF donors who transitioned to using a DAF within the five years of the study nearly doubled their yearly donations, increasing their annual giving to the same organization by 96%.
The study documents historical giving data from 2019-23 collected from 20 leading nonprofits, analyzing over $10 billion in fundraising from 78 million transactions. The American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen, March of Dimes, and the ACLU are among the participating nonprofits selected to represent a wide range of organizations varying in size, area of specialization, and location.
The DAF Fundraising Report provides the first wide-scale nonprofit perspective of DAF donations, offering new insight into trends in DAF usage from 2019-23. The study outlines the growth in DAF revenue and DAF donors relative to non-DAF revenue and donors – as well as a first-of-its-kind insight into how DAF adoption actually changes donor behavior.
Key findings include:
- DAFs are incredibly valuable for nonprofits: Once someone starts giving from their DAF, their annual giving increases by 96%.
- DAFs are the fastest-growing vehicle in philanthropy: DAF Revenue is growing 214x faster than non-DAF Revenue in the sample group.
- DAF donors are bucking the trend of declining donor participation: DAF Donors have grown 79% while non-DAF donors have declined by 6%.
- DAF donors are “hiding” in donor files: At least 26% of current DAF donors were already supporting that cause when they made their first DAF gift.
- DAF donors are incredibly loyal: DAF donor retention rates average 15 points higher than non-DAF donors among participants.
“We have seen the amount and frequency of donations through DAFs significantly increase, especially in the last five years,” says Karin Kirchoff, Founder and President of K2D Strategies. “For nonprofits, increased DAF usage in their donor base is one of the biggest drivers of overall fundraising success. DAFs make it easier for donors to manage and increase their philanthropy - ultimately giving twice as much to their favorite causes."
"There’s no denying that Donor Advised Funds are transforming the nonprofit landscape, offering a sustainable source of support in today's challenging fundraising environment. At the IRC, we’ve seen firsthand how DAFs empower us to reach those on the frontlines of crisis, conflict and disaster more effectively, thanks to larger and more frequent contributions, so we are delighted to see that it benefits so many throughout the nonprofit ecosystem,” says Carlos Pena, Director of Donor Advised Funds for the International Rescue Committee.
“We know that giving is an essential part of everyday personal finance. When you use DAF as a dedicated giving account, you give so much more,” says Salomon Serfati, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Chariot. “The DAF Fundraising Report brings home how DAFs can inspire a change in donor behavior. DAFs inspire more purposeful giving where donating is seen as less of an expense and more of an investment in a meaningful nonprofit.”
The preceding press release was provided by a company unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.
