Donor-Advised Funds: The Source Fundraisers Can't Afford to Ignore

Plus, with many DAF providers lowering their minimums to open an account, more donors are able to utilize DAFs today.

Then there is the matter of illiquid assets — namely publicly traded and non-publicly traded securities and stocks. Both Heisman and Danforth note that if someone wanted to give 100 shares of stock to a nonprofit directly, the nonprofit would need to pay commissions and not get the full amount that the shares are worth. However, through a DAF, the DAF provider can liquidate the securities and grant the full monetary amount to the nonprofit.