About Donor-Advised Funds

A general overview of the donor-advised fund concept and the benefits DAFs provide.

How does a DAF work?

A donor-advised fund, or DAF, is a distinct charitable financial account offered by a public charity. In this case, you're the donor, and Charityvest, Inc. is the sponsoring charity.

Donors make contributions to their fund. These contributions are considered irrevocable, tax-deductible donations to the DAF sponsor, and are no longer owned by donors.

Once a contribution is made to a DAF, it must ultimately be used for charitable purposes, and cannot be refunded. Typically, that means making grants to other public charities, and investing along the way.

As the name suggests, donors are allowed to provide advice to the sponsoring charity regarding their fund, about where grants should be made, and how funds should be invested.

Why should I use a DAF?

DAFs are useful because they allow flexibility to choose when and where to give, independently from the tax implications of charitable contributions.

Immediate tax deduction. Receive a swift tax deduction when you contribute.
Flexibility to choose when and where to give. DAFs provide tax-free time to decide when, where, and how much to give.
Simple, tax-smart giving. Capture valuable tax advantages of donating stock, crypto, equity, and more with a single gift.
Tax-free growth. Invest your balance to grow and sustain your giving over your lifetime, tax-free.
One tax receipt, unlimited charities. Enjoy a consolidated annual receipt for all giving, across 1.4 million qualified charities.

Why choose Charityvest for my DAF?

Everyone wants to be a more charitable person. But it's hard to take the first step to commit to giving.

We created Charityvest to unlock more charitable people: to help you give, and give more.

Our simple, modern DAF platform lets everyone enjoy tax-smart, purposeful giving through a world-class experience. And, we're different beyond our tech-first orientation:

Delightful experience. From giving stock to making grants, we designed our platfrom to make all of your giving easy & fast.
Modern investments. Our customizable, self-rebalancing portfolios are built with low-cost, single asset class index ETFs, providing great value without sacrificing fine-grained controls.
Low fees. Our invested accounts have the lowest fees among DAFs, including a zero-fee uninvested DAF, so you can give the most to charity.
Built with a purpose. Charityvest is motivated to help you give, and give more. Our giving goals and non-binding pledges help you make commitments to give, and measure you against your progress.

Where can I learn more about donor-advised funds?

If you'd like to dive deeper on DAFs to decide if they align with your generosity journey, you can reference these additional resources:

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How does a DAF work?

A donor-advised fund, or DAF, is a distinct charitable financial account offered by a public charity. In this case, you're the donor, and Charityvest, Inc. is the sponsoring charity.

Donors make contributions to their fund. These contributions are considered irrevocable, tax-deductible donations to the DAF sponsor, and are no longer owned by donors.

As the name suggests, donors are allowed to provide advice to the sponsoring charity regarding their fund, about where grants should be made, and how funds should be invested.

Why should I use a DAF?

DAFs are useful because they allow flexibility to choose when and where to give, independently from the tax implications of charitable contributions.

Immediate tax deduction. Receive a swift tax deduction when you contribute.

Flexibility to choose when and where to give. DAFs provide tax-free time to decide when, where, and how much to give.

Simple, tax-smart giving. Capture valuable tax advantages of donating stock, crypto, equity, and more with a single gift.

Tax-free growth. Invest your balance to grow and sustain your giving over your lifetime, tax-free.

One tax receipt, unlimited charities. Enjoy a consolidated annual receipt for all giving, across 1.4 million qualified charities.

Why choose Charityvest for my DAF?

Everyone wants to be a more charitable person. But it's hard to take the first step to commit to giving.

We created Charityvest to unlock more charitable people: to help you give, and give more.

Our simple, modern DAF platform lets everyone enjoy tax-smart, purposeful giving through a world-class experience. And, we're different beyond our tech-first orientation:

Delightful experience. From giving stock to making grants, we designed our platfrom to make all of your giving easy & fast.

Modern investments. Our customizable, self-rebalancing portfolios are built with low-cost, single asset class index ETFs, providing great value without sacrificing fine-grained controls.

Low fees. Our invested accounts have the lowest fees among DAFs, including a zero-fee uninvested DAF, so you can give the most to charity.

Built with a purpose. Charityvest is motivated to help you give, and give more. Our giving goals and non-binding pledges help you make commitments to give, and measure you against your progress.

Where can I learn more about donor-advised funds?

If you'd like to dive deeper on DAFs to decide if they align with your generosity journey, you can reference these additional resources:

to show you how a donor-advised fund fits into your giving equation.

that break down complex aspects of donor-advised funds by topic.

with collections of articles that detail best practices around purposeful giving.

that offers a comprehensive explanation of donor-advised funds.