Donor-advised funds are an increasingly popular philanthropic vehicle, used by charitably minded people to give away millions of dollars every year.
But questions exist about DAFs' effectiveness and the charitable intent of donors who give with these vehicles.
Vanguard Charitable, one of the country's largest DAF sponsors, recently examined 10 years' worth of granting by its account holders to answer these questions.
Pulling data from 2004 through 2013, researchers analyzed the granting patterns of more than 15,000 donors based on gender and generation makeup, balance and tenure of their accounts.
They also asked donors and numerous charities they supported their thoughts about giving with a DAF. Was philanthropy more strategic? Were donors and charities better giving partners?
Vanguard's study found the following about its account holders:
- 61% were male and female, 28% male only and 10% female only
- 31% were born before 1946, 44% were baby boomers, 13% Gen X/Millennials and 12% mixed
- 56% of donors used a DAF for the majority of their giving, while some 12% preferred to write checks
Vanguard said it granted 20.3% of assets to charity annually, but giving levels of individual accounts varied based on donors' individual strategies and goals.
It said account holders may prefer to give regularly in equal amounts to their favorite charities, while others do not give in one year in order to recommend a large grant for a major project in the following year.
The minimum grant from Vanguard Charitable is $500. Vanguard data showed that accounts with higher balances of more than $100,000 tended to recommend fewer but larger gifts to charity, while accounts with smaller balances made many smaller grants.
For their part, 63% of charities surveyed said they preferred many small grants — for one thing, a broad base of supporters lowers risk over the long term — while 37% preferred fewer but larger grants — big donors tend to be very committed to the charity's mission, and large gifts can be "game changers."
