The Charityvest Guide
  • Welcome to Charityvest 👋
  • About Donor-Advised Funds
  • For Donors
    • Getting Started
      • Open an Account
      • Make a Contribution
      • Activate Investing
        • Impact investing
      • Grant to Charity
        • Tips for finding a specific charity
        • Philanthropic advisory
        • International Grantmaking
      • Check Grant Status
      • Schedule Future Giving
      • Send a Gift Card
      • Add Beneficiaries
      • Set a Giving Goal
    • Gifts We Accept
      • Cash
      • Stocks & ETFs
      • Crypto
      • DAF Transfers
      • Complex Assets
      • Other Ways to Donate
    • Our Portfolios
    • Our Fees
    • Philanthropic services
    • Invite Friends, Invest Free
    • Tax Matters
    • For Financial Advisors
  • COMMUNITY FUNDS
    • About Community Funds
    • Fund Managers
    • Community Fund Setup
      • Community Fund Policies
      • Community Fund Settings
      • Community Fund Design
        • Grantmaking Process: Examples + Inspiration
    • Donate to a Community Fund
    • Grant from a Community Fund
    • Community Fund Fees
    • Community Fund FAQs
  • For Charities
    • Receiving Grants
    • Stock & Crypto Donations
    • Charity FAQs
  • For Workplaces
    • Corporate Giving Fund
    • Employee Giving Programs
      • Employee Matching
      • Employee Equity
      • Setting Up an Employee Program
    • Administrator FAQ
    • Employee FAQ
  • About Our Venture
    • Our Giving Model & Philosophy
    • Our Story + Mission + Values
    • The Foundation Source Relationship
    • How We Make Money
    • Building the Future of Giving
    • Our Trust & Security Posture
  • Governance & Legal
    • About Charityvest, Inc.
    • Financial Reporting
    • Legal Documents
    • Required Disclosures
    • Legal Note
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On this page
  • Add your bank account
  • Add your credit or debit card
  • Other ways to contribute
  • Funds availability
  • Timing expectations
  • Contribution tax timing

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  1. For Donors
  2. Getting Started

Make a Contribution

Make a tax-deductible gift upfront and use your balance to recommend grants to charities whenever you're ready.

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Last updated 5 months ago

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Contributing to your DAF gives you an immediate tax deduction for your gift and allows you to invest and recommend grants to charities from your balance over time. Contributions are non-refundable, irrevocable gifts to Charityvest, Inc. which apply to your DAF balance.

Making your first contribution to your Charityvest giving account is as simple as clicking on your dashboard.

You have a few different options to consider when making a contribution to your Charityvest fund that we have laid out below.

Add your bank account

Adding your bank account is the simplest and most affordable way to contribute cash to your Charityvest fund. We cover the fees, so 100% of your donation is available to grant.

We use our secure third-party partner Plaid to connect your account with your username and password, or you can share your bank's routing number and your account number, and we'll verify your account ownership by placing two small verification deposits in your account.

To add a bank account, you must have two-factor verification turned on for your account. You can receive two-factor authentication to U.S.-based mobile phones or by using an authenticator app like 1Password, Authy, or Google Authenticator. This enhances the security of your Charityvest account.

All banking information is encrypted-at-rest and stored in a third-party data vault. No one at Charityvest can access your bank account information.

Add your credit or debit card

Using your credit or debit card to make contributions to Charityvest is convenient, secure, and instant (it may also earn you some valuable rewards points!).

We partner with Stripe to accept a wide variety of credit and debit card brands, both U.S. and international.

Stripe partners with Charityvest to offer us reduced fees on our credit and debit card processing. However, processing fees are unfortunately an unavoidable part of contributing with cards.

To handle this, we add the unavoidable credit card fees on top of your contribution. For instance, a $100 contribution to your fund becomes a $102.56 charge on your card. The full charge is tax-deductible, and we keep track of that on your annual giving receipt, and a contribution of $100 will become immediately available in your fund.

Other ways to contribute

Adding a bank account or card is a useful way to make cash gifts to your Charityvest fund, either one-time, or on a recurring basis. But, there are other simple and tax-smart ways to contribute.

Funds availability

Once a contribution is successful, cash must be cleared into our partner financial institution before it can be sent to charity or invested. As a general rule, you should expect your contributed amount to be fully available for grants, gifts, or investment within 3 business days of the successful transaction being posted to your account.

Timing expectations

Contributions made directly on Charityvest.org using your bank account, credit and debit cards, and donations of cryptocurrency are processed automatically, and should be reflected in your account activity instantly (or in the case of cryptocurrency, once the transaction is confirmed on the blockchain).

If your contribution is processed manually, you will see it appear in your account within 1-2 business days of when our team receives your contribution.

We have a dedicated team responsible for manually posting the following contribution types:

Still have questions about contribution times? Please contact our support team via Intercom chat or via email: support@charityvest.org

Contribution tax timing

Each contribution type has distinct timing requirements in order to count for a given tax year. We consider the end of the tax year to be 11:59:59 PM PST on December 31st.

  • Bank account, debit or credit cards: must be submitted on Charityvest.org before the end of the tax year.

  • Checks: checks mailed to Charityvest must bear an official USPS postmark date prior to the end of the tax year.

  • ACH or wire: electronic funds transfers must be received by Charityvest before the end of the tax year.

  • Stocks, ETFs, and other public securities: assets must be received by Charityvest before the end of the tax year. Processing time varies based on your broker's own processes, and can be substantial. We recommend donating stock as early as possible to avoid missing the deadline.

Stocks, ETFs, and crypto. You can contribute non-cash assets like . Donating long-term appreciated stocks, ETFs, and crypto has significant tax advantages and provides a substantial fund balance from which to make grants to many charities.

Transfer your DAF. If you have an existing DAF, consider making a to Charityvest. It's simple.

Complex non-cash assets. We facilitate such as pre-IPO equity, real estate, PE/VC interests, and even NFTs.

Other ways to give. And if you have to send a check or a wire - , too.

(including )

All contributions are subject to .

Cryptocurrency: transactions must be fully confirmed on the blockchain before the end of the tax year. Each asset has a minimum number of required confirmations to be considered fully confirmed. You can find information of the required number of network confirmations by asset .

stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrency
transfer of your current DAF
donations of complex assets
we're here for you
Stocks, ETFs, and other public securities
Checks, ACH or wire
DAF Transfers
here
funds availability standards
Contribute to fund
Contribute screen, showing a few different ways to contribute to your fund.
Two ways to verify your bank information with us.
Adding a credit or debit card for contributions.
How we tack on processing fees to your total charge. The full charge is tax-deductible.