National Philanthropic Trust 2024 DAF Report
The National Philanthropic Trust released its 2024 DAF Report. Here are the highlights:
This 2024 edition offers data and insight about donor-advised fund (DAF) giving over the most recent five-year period ending in 2023. As you will read, DAF donors are mirroring some of the giving trends in the larger philanthropic sector, returning to pre-pandemic giving patterns and responding to economic forces. Data highlights include:
Grants from DAFs declined slightly, from $55.53 billion in 2022 to $54.77 billion in 2023. This one-year drop marks only the second decline in grantmaking since we began recording data in 2007. It is also the second-highest aggregate grantmaking value on record, nearly doubling the 2019 pre-pandemic grantmaking total.
Contributions to DAFs dropped significantly to $59.43 billion in 2023, a -21.7 percent decline. It is the most precipitous one-year drop on record and comes two years after the sharpest one-year increase (from 2020 to 2021). Contributions seem to be returning to historical growth patterns.
Total charitable assets increased almost 10 percent to $251.52 billion as the stock market rebounded in 2023 after posting losses in 2022.
DAF payout rate remains near 24 percent. The DAF grantmaking payout rate, which is a function of grants made relative to the charitable assets available, has been at or above 20 percent for every year on record.
Here is a comment comparing DAFs to Private Foundations:
Comparison to Private Foundations
Table 2 shows an estimated total of DAF charitable assets and grants from all charitable sponsors included in this report compared with independent (non-corporate) foundations, also called private foundations. There is an estimated $251.52 billion in DAF charitable assets and $1.48 trillion in private foundation assets estimated for 2023. Comparing the two, DAF charitable assets amount to 16.98 percent of those in private foundations.
Grants from DAFs to qualified charities totaled $54.77 billion in 2023. Grants and expenditures from private foundations totaled $114.11 billion.7 To compare, the value of DAF grants in 2023 amounts to 48 percent of the value of grants from private foundations. Foundations must meet the minimum distribution of five percent of assets in grants or through “grant-related expenditures.” It is important to note that grants from DAFs do not include any grant-related expenditures, administrative fees or operational overhead costs, while private foundations can include these in their grant and expenses total. In 2023, with no federal minimum payout requirement, DAFs voluntarily granted 23.9 percent of their assets from the prior year.
darryll k. jones