How to Reach Donor-Advised Fund Donors: Five Tips

How to Reach Donor-Advised Fund Donors: Five Tips

A donor-advised fund (DAF) is like a charitable investment account, sponsored by a public charity, that a donor opens for the sole purpose of supporting charitable organizations. DAFs have rapidly risen in popularity in recent years, and because DAF donors have specifically set aside funds to give to charity, they could become some of your highest-capacity donors. DAF donors can bolster your organization’s work with unrestricted funds, especially in times of disaster or economic downturn. So how do you connect with these donors in 2021? Check out these five tips to get started.

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1. Keep your information current

DAF donors can recommend grants online, so you’ll want donors to be able to find your organization easily in their DAF sponsor’s online portal. Most DAF sponsors pull nonprofit names from official IRS records; if your nonprofit does business as a different name, you’ll want to make sure you’ve clearly noted that on your website so donors know how to find you.

You’ll also want to make sure your organization’s information is up-to-date on charity research platforms like GuideStar. DAF sponsors may point donors to these tools to evaluate organizations.

If you aren’t currently in your office full-time due to the pandemic, communicate any address changes to the DAF-sponsoring organizations that mail you grant checks. This will ensure that grants make it to you, rather than being returned to the sponsor as undeliverable. It’s always a good idea to check in with DAF sponsors if you have any change in address to make sure they have the correct address information on file to send grant checks to. You can also take advantage of electronic funds transfer programs that some offer to eliminate the mailing of paper checks and get grants deposited into your organization’s bank account electronically.

2. Thank donors for DAF giving

Thanking a DAF donor for recommending a grant is a little bit different than thanking donors who use checks or credit cards to support you. A check from a DAF grant will come from the DAF sponsor—an organization that is sponsoring the fund—but the grant was recommended by a donor. You want to thank the donor, not the sponsoring organization.

You’ll also want to remove any references to the gift being tax-deductible. That’s because donors are eligible to claim a charitable tax deduction when they make a contribution to a DAF- sponsoring organization, like Fidelity Charitable, not when their grant recommendations are distributed to nonprofits.

As with any other donor thank-you, restating your organization’s mission and describing how the donor’s support will help drive toward your organization’s goals is always a best practice. Give examples of recent accomplishments and upcoming projects. Donor-advised fund donors, like any other donors, are invested in seeing you succeed and meet your goals, so consider listing some plans for future work as well. In your thank-you, you could offer a personal call about the work your nonprofit does. You may also want to personalize your thank-you note with a handwritten message.

Because DAF donors have already specifically committed funds for charitable giving, they are well-suited for future engagement from you. A donor who has recommended even a small initial grant to your organization from their DAF may very well give more if you reach out and invite them to learn more about your work.

3. Invite deeper engagement with your DAF donors

You’ll often find donors who use DAFs to be among your most consistent supporters. Many support the same organizations year after year. DAF donors also often signal a desire to be engaged—97 percent of grants from Fidelity Charitable include information about the donor. The best way to secure that support is to invite donors to go deeper—for example, you might offer a tour to see first-hand what a grant achieved or offer a conversation with one of your experts.

During the pandemic, it may be difficult to offer safe, in-person opportunities to engage donors, but don’t hesitate to offer to connect with donors virtually. Have a conversation about how COVID-19 is affecting your nonprofit’s operations or programs, let donors know what you need now and describe how your organization has pivoted to meet new needs over the past year.

4. Encourage donors to use the features of their DAF

Many DAFs offer features that make the granting experience easy for donors, and also encourage more giving. Often donors can pre-schedule grants or set up recurring grants within their online DAF portal. Encourage your donors to make you a “regular” grantee and establish your organization as one of their pre-scheduled, reoccurring grants.

DAF donors can also name an individual successor on their fund. This means that when the donor passes away, the fund will pass to the successor to recommend grants. But a donor can also name nonprofits as successors, and the remaining assets will be granted to organizations of their choice.

You can remind DAF donors to take advantage of all of the features of their account—sometimes all it takes is an ask in a marketing or fundraising email.

5. Integrate DAFs into your existing marketing materials

It may be easier than you think to incorporate DAFs into your marketing and fundraising materials—start with all of your existing touch points. Mention DAFs as a way to support you on your website right along with checks or credit cards. In fundraising appeals, add language reminding donors they can support your work through a DAF.

Take a look at the top DAF sponsors your donors are using and put links to them directly on your giving page on your website, reminding your donors to use a DAF to support you.

Want to get funds from a DAF even faster? Some DAF sponsors offer electronic funds transfer (EFT) programs that deposit your grants directly into your nonprofit’s bank account rather than sending them through the mail. These programs are free and nonprofits receive all the same information about recommending donor accounts as with paper checks. Learn more about Fidelity Charitable’s EFT program here.

About Fidelity Charitable

Fidelity Charitable is an independent, 501(c)(3) public charity. We sponsor the largest donor-advised fund program in the country. Learn more.