Funds
Donor advised funds (DAFs) remain a significant driver of fund activity within the field, receiving 60% of all gift dollars and accounting for 67% of all grant dollars in FY24. DAFs at community foundations maintained their relatively high distribution rates and flow rates in FY24, even as DAF fundraising totals widely decreased for the second consecutive year.
Endowed and non-endowed assets
New and small community foundations tend to have relatively high proportions of endowed assets as they look to grow and sustain themselves for the long-term, while larger community foundations leverage their ability to provide flexible options to donors who may want to maintain non-endowed funds they can activate in full at any time.
Median percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. (n=226)
Product mix
Large community foundations tend to manage larger DAF portfolios than their smaller counterparts, as reflected in the proportion of assets held in DAF accounts across different asset size cohorts.
Averages were used to total 100%. (n=221)
| Size of Foundation | Donor-advised funds | Discretionary funds | All other funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0-$25M | 17% | 17% | 66% |
| $25-$50M | 17% | 22% | 61% |
| $50-$100M | 22% | 17% | 61% |
| $100-$250M | 22% | 14% | 64% |
| $250-$500M | 30% | 14% | 56% |
| $500M+ | 40% | 11% | 49% |
| All | 25% | 16% | 59% |
Total donor-advised fund assets, gifts, and grants
DAFs remain a major driver of activity, holding 41% of reported assets, receiving 60% of fundraising dollars, and distributing 67% of grant dollars (n=359). Grantmaking from DAFs continues to grow over time, despite a second consecutive year of declines in fundraising.
In FY24, the median community foundation increased its grantmaking from DAFs by 6%, even as the median fundraising total dropped by 15% during the same period. As in FY23, this demonstrates the resilience of DAFs as a grantmaking vehicle, with donors continuing to mobilize their funds toward causes important to them and the community.
| Total | |
|---|---|
| Assets | $51,965,246,996 |
| Gifts | $9,315,707,323 |
| Grants | $9,367,562,513 |
Donor-advised fund flow rate
DAF flow rates are calculated as grants divided by gifts, indicating the proportion of grant dollars that went out in a given year relative to the gift dollars that came in that same year. Just over half of all reporting community foundations carried a flow rate higher than 100 percent, granting more dollars from their DAFs in 2024 than they brought in as gifts. (n=363)
Distribution rates
DAFs hosted by community foundation broadly and consistently maintain high distribution rates compared to other fund types. Nearly half of all community foundations in this sample reported DAF distribution rates in double digits, while roughly 20% reported double-digit distribution rates across all fund types. Large community foundations tend to maintain higher distribution rates as they also carry higher proportions of both DAFs and non-endowed funds than others. (n=366)
| Size of Foundation | Donor-Advised Funds | Whole Foundation |
|---|---|---|
| <$25M | 6% | 5% |
| $25M - $50M | 7% | 5% |
| $50M - $100M | 10% | 6% |
| $100M - $250M | 10% | 5% |
| $250M - $500M | 10% | 7% |
| >$500M | 14% | 10% |
Inactive donor-advised funds policy
Just under 90% of reporting community foundations said that they have a policy in place to ensure that donors recommend a grant from their DAFs within some agreed-upon number of years. Per such policies, the community foundation housing the DAF may take steps to activate the funds should the donor not recommend a grant within that time. (n=174)
| | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Policy exists | 90% |
| No policy | 10% |
How many years until a DAF is considered inactive?
All but one community foundation said they wait no more than five years to activate DAFs they deem to be dormant, with 97% of respondents saying they take action after three years. In cases where community foundations allow for longer waiting periods, it will usually be for a donor to grow the fund over a longer period to allow for the distribution of larger grants. (n=157)
Steps taken to address inactive donor-advised funds
Nearly all respondents said that their community foundation would attempt to contact a DAF holder to encourage them to activate their fund once the foundation considers the fund to be dormant. Follow-up steps vary but include distributing the fund in alignment with the donor’s original stated intent or transferring the fund to the community foundation’s own unrestricted fund. (n=181)
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?
