Corporate Giving Fund
A corporate donor-advised fund makes setting aside corporate funds for giving and supporting charities with grants simple.
Is a Corporate DAF Right for Me?
A corporate donor-advised fund (DAF) enables a company to set aside money into a tax-deductible fund, invest the money while it remains in the fund, and then easily recommend grants to any tax-exempt organization at any time.
The costs to operate a corporate DAF are minimal. There are also no ongoing management or compliance tasks required with maintaining the fund.
Organizations of all sizes can benefit from a corporate donor-advised fund, whether you're giving $200 or $200 million per year.
A corporate foundation also yields your company the opportunity to say you have a "foundation" and enables you to signal to your stakeholders that you are making investments toward community impact. Most Americans value seeing companies give back, and are more likely to work for them and do business with them if they do so.
A corporate donor-advised fund can facilitate various charitable initiatives like:
Making grants to charities
Facilitating donations of company equity
Funding employee giving programs (e.g. matching)
Receiving money from fundraisers among company stakeholders
Enabling donations from customer sales transactions and promotions for charity
There are a number of benefits:
Increased employee retention. Quality corporate social responsibility initiatives are known to meaningfully influence employee connection and retention to the company.
Reduced tax liability. DAFs can help reduce tax liability in peak years and help streamline corporate giving strategies for the long run. The corporation receives an immediate tax deduction for the full amount of the donation.
Enhanced marketing and promotional opportunities. Grantmaking is an effective lever for brand building.
Simplified corporate social responsibility. Corporate DAFs require very little management, no administrative costs other than standard asset fees, and no compliance risk to the company.
Magnified community impact. An opportunity to build greater relationships with community stakeholders.
Setting up Your Corporate DAF
Create your Charityvest account. Go to charityvest.org/signup and select 'I'm an admin of an organization.'
Craft your giving plan (reach out to us if we can help answer questions). Create your budget/plan for giving or making a significant asset gift like corporate equity. Our network of experts is available to help answer any complex planning or asset questions.
Fund your account. Make a contribution of cash or assets, or set up a recurring contribution to fund the account.
Grow the balance. Pick from our investment options to invest and grow your charitable money, tax-free for whatever period the money remains in the fund.
Recommend grants to charities. Select charities to support from your fund whenever you're ready to do so. Payments to charities are issued twice per month.
Fulfilling a Corporate Pledge
We encourage all donors, including companies, to be intentional about giving through making pledges.
We facilitate our own pledge program, but we also cheer on external pledge partners like Pledge 1%, and we're happy to serve their community.
A corporate DAF is a great step toward fulfilling pledges of profit, equity, and product.
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