Funds
Differences in community foundation size are reflected in their different operating models and product focus.
Endowed and non-endowed assets
Smaller, emerging community foundations that may be focused on asset growth typically have a relatively high proportion of endowed assets. Larger community foundations, with an increased focus on diversifying their portfolios and donor bases, are more likely to have a higher proportion of pass-through funds.
Median percentages for the proportion of assets that are endowed and non-endowed may not add up to 100% due to rounding. (n=227)
Product mix
On average, donor advised funds make up more than a third of assets for community foundations larger than $250M. Although DAFs continue to grow, they don't appear to comprise significantly more of respondents' asset bases than in previous years.
Averages were used to total 100%. (n=238)
| Size of Foundation | Donor-advised funds | Discretionary funds | All other funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0-$25M | 11% | 26% | 63% |
| $25-$50M | 15% | 18% | 67% |
| $50-$100M | 24% | 20% | 56% |
| $100-$250M | 29% | 17% | 54% |
| $250-$500M | 36% | 20% | 44% |
| $500M+ | 34% | 15% | 50% |
| All | 23% | 20% | 57% |
Total donor-advised fund assets, gifts, and grants
Aggregate community foundation donor advised fund (DAF) asset, gift, and grant totals all saw a higher rate of increase in FY18 than the field as a whole. DAF grantmaking grew at a higher rate (4%) than assets and gifts (2% each).
| Total | |
|---|---|
| Assets | $30,599,017,975 |
| Gifts | $5,968,522,907 |
| Grants | $5,420,982,083 |
Donor-advised fund flow rate
The "flow rate" of DAFs compares a given year's grantmaking total with its gift total, dividing grants by gifts. This metric may help capture the activity of donors who contribute to their DAF and grant from it that same year.1 As with distribution rate and other measures of DAF activity in this survey, data is collected in the aggregate by sponsoring community foundation. Data collection on the account level would be necessary to analyze the activity of individual DAF holders. (n=234)
39% of FY18 Columbus Survey respondents had a DAF flow rate of over 100%, meaning that they granted out more from DAFs than they received that year.
1Heist, H. Daniel, and Danielle Vance-Mcmullen. “Understanding Donor-Advised Funds: How Grants Flow During Recessions.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 2019, pp. 10–11., doi:10.1177/0899764019856118.
Distribution rates
DAFs at community foundations tend to be highly active grantmaking vehicles; more than half (53%) of all survey respondents granted more than 10% of their DAF assets out in FY2018. Larger community foundations, which as noted above tend to carry more non-endowed assets, also have the highest distribution rates.
Sample size for DAF distribution rates are slightly smaller (n=236) than for the whole foundation (n=250).
| Size of Foundation | Donor-Advised Funds | Whole Foundation |
|---|---|---|
| <$25M | 6% | 4% |
| $25M - $50M | 8% | 5% |
| $50M - $100M | 10% | 5% |
| $100M - $250M | 11% | 6% |
| $250M - $500M | 13% | 9% |
| >$500M | 15% | 8% |
Inactive donor-advised funds policy
This data point was included in the CF Insights Annual Survey beginning in 2019.
How many years until a DAF is considered inactive?
This data point was included in the CF Insights Annual Survey beginning in 2019.
Steps taken to address inactive donor advised funds
This data point was included in the CF Insights Annual Survey beginning in 2019.
What's the idea behind the survey?
CF Insights responds to a hunger for shared knowledge among community foundations. Learn more about how this survey helps us do that.
Questions?
