The National Philanthropic Trust Report – All DAFs, All The Time!

The National Philanthropic Trust released its 2015 Donor-Advised Fund Report on November 9th.     NPT’s report indicates that gifts to DAFs grew significantly in 2014, with assets held in DAF reaching a record level of $12.5 billion dollars.   NPT further indicated that that the DAFs it studied also demonstrated an increase in grants, with $12.5 billion in assets given away at a payout rate of 21.9%.   As discussed in this article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, however, there is fundamental disagreement in the field on how to measure DAF payouts – the National Philanthropic Trust, Fidelity Charitable Trust and statisticians at the IRS all use different methodologies.   Accordingly, we should all be wary about comparing apples to apples when looking at DAF payout rates.  

Certainly, this report is good news for DAFs as it shows the popularly of DAFs as a giving vehicle; it may also have the unintended consequence of encouraging further (already heightened) scrutiny.   The report is released at a time when serious discussion continues to occur regarding mandating minimum payouts for DAFs.   

EWW

Correction:   Thanks for the note in the comments, which indicated that total DAF assets according to the report were at $70.7 billion at the close of 2014.  EWW