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Just over one quarter of all annual survey participants reported any level of operating deficit in 2020 - which is unchanged from the year prior. For these community foundations, and more generally, operating deficits are covered by unrestricted funds, which limits their flexibility to invest in foundation-operated initiatives and community leadership.

It is typical for two-thirds of operating expenses to go toward staff capacity, regardless of the size of the community foundation.

Averages were used to total 100%. (n=168)

Administrative fees are the main source of community foundation operating revenues field-wide. Larger community foundations are more likely to supplement fees with fee for service revenues, while smaller community foundations tend to do more direct fundraising to support operations. Community foundations often seek to generate surplus revenues that could be reinvested into community leadership initiatives.

Averages were used to total 100%. (n=168)

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Over three-quarters of respondents said that they will first attempt an appeal to a DAF holder to activate the fund after a predefined period of time after which the fund is considered dormant. Follow-up step are often included in the donor's original fund agreement; many said that those steps included one or both of distributing DAF dollars in alignment with the donor's original intent and transferring the funds into the community foundation's unrestricted funds.

Nearly all said they considered a DAF to be dormant if no grant is recommended within five years, with three-quarters considering a DAF inactive after three years. Although few in number, there were instances of the community foundation considering a DAF to be dormant after 10 or more years of inactivity, in cases where a donor establishes the fund with the intention of building its balance to activate the fund toward more impactful grantmaking in the future. (n=179)

Nearly three quarters of all annual survey respondents have a policy in place to activate "dormant" DAFs, defined by the passage of a predefined time horizon without the recommendation of a grant. (n=187)

DAFs at community foundations tend to be highly active grantmaking vehicles; more than half of all respondents reported distribution rates from DAFs in excess of 10 percent. With typically higher proportions of pass-through funds available for granting, larger community foundations tend to report higher distribution rates overall.

Sample size for DAF distribution rates are slightly smaller (n=189) than for the whole foundation (n=211).

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High median DAF flow rates in every asset cohort reflect high rates of grantmaking that keep pace with fundraising.

More than one-third of 2020 Annual Survey respondents reported DAF flow rates of over 100%, granting more from their DAFs than those funds brought in as gifts. (n=179)

Total reported DAF assets grew by seven percent over 2019's overall total, while fundraising and grantmaking each increased by over 35 percent. (n=211)

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Smaller, emerging, and growing 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 providing flexible options for donors to engage in philanthropy, are more likely to have a higher proportion of pass-through funds.