Fundraisers Do Care About DAF Regulation — but We Also Need to Work Within the Current System
May 26, 2022 | Read Time: 2 minutes
To the Editor:
In his opinion essay last week, “For Most Charity Fundraisers, DAFs Are a Useful Tool for Attracting Gifts — Not a Problem in Need of More Regulation,” — Leslie Lenkowsky came to the wrong conclusion about how fundraisers like me feel about regulating donor-advised funds.
He notes that the issue of DAF reform wasn’t raised by any of the nearly 2,000 attendees on a recent webinar about building ties with DAF donors, sponsored by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. From that evidence, he assumes that fundraising professionals aren’t hoping for or interested in government regulation of these funds.
I believe this is incorrect. As a fundraiser for a nonprofit and former foundation professional, I closely follow the debate surrounding the Senate’s proposed Accelerating Charitable Efforts Act and hope that one day DAFs will be subject to rules that enforce more timely disbursement of funds and greater transparency. I am intrigued by the DAF regulations included in the Biden administration’s proposed 2023 budget and am particularly supportive of reforms to existing rules governing private foundations that allow these organizations to meet their annual payout obligation through a DAF distribution.
However, this is not the reality in which we currently live. As nonprofits continue to make every effort to regain firm financial footing during the ongoing pandemic, fundraisers must work within the systems in place to ensure our organizations can meaningfully pursue their missions — in no small part by ensuring our colleagues remain employed.
All of this is to say that my personal silence during the webinar on the subject of the ACE Act — and government regulation more generally — came not from a lack of interest in or hope for change but from the need to focus on strategic fundraising in the current environment.
It is possible to work hard to make the current DAF structure useful for our organizations in the short term while also striving to make them better in the long run.
Becca Freedman
Director of Foundation Relations
J Street
