Donor Advised Funds
Registration is Now Open for the 2014 Annual Conference: Philanthropy Exchange
A brand new conference experience – Philanthropy Exchange – supercharges the Council on Foundations' Annual Conference with enhanced networking opportunities, an inclusive perspective on the shared values of the field, and a focus on the issues that matter to you.
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This Week at the Council - January 31, 2014
State of the Union Edition
This Week at the Council, all eyes were on President Obama's fifth State of the Union Address, though a few of us were distracted by our ever-charming Vice President. In his speech, the President declared a "Year of Action" for himself, Congress, and private…
Giving Days
External Resource
2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of the first community foundation, The Cleveland Foundation, in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then over 700 community foundations have been created in the United States and countless more globally. The Council recognizes the critical and unique role of…
Let’s Call it Core Mission Support
Nonprofit leaders are accustomed to justifying their need for operating support in appeals to potential donors. In a “proposal letter” written in June 1788, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart makes his case to benefactor Johann Michael Von Puchberg:
“If you will do me this kindness, I shall primo (…
Council Summary: Report to Congress on Supporting Organizations and Donor Advised Funds
Legal Compliance Guidance
The Treasury Department released its report on donor advised funds (DAFs) and supporting organizations (SOs) in December of 2011. This report, mandated by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, was due in August 2007.
The report is 109 pages, including appendices, and is divided into five chapters:…
Treasury Report on Donor-Advised Funds and Supporting Organizations
External Resource
In Notice 2007-21, the Treasury Department and IRS requested comments on issues relating to the organization and operation of donor-advised funds and supporting organizations, to be included in a study of these organizations. The resulting report includes a detailed discussion of the legal…
Permissible Grantees for Donor Advised Funds
Legal Compliance Guidance
This chart details which organizations can receive grants from donor-advised funds and which ones cannot.
Prohibited Benefits from Donor Advised Funds
Fundamentals, Legal Compliance Guidance
Donors and advisors are prohibited from receiving more than incidental benefits from grants made from their advised funds. Penalties apply to those who received a prohibited benefit, to those who recommended the grant, and, in some situations, to fund managers who approved the recommendation.…
Intermediate Sanctions for Donor Advised Funds and Sponsoring Organizations
Fundamentals, Legal Compliance Guidance
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 created new categories of disqualified persons for donor advised funds and sponsoring organizations under the intermediate sanctions rules.
Categories of Disqualified Persons Created under the PPA
Donors and donor advisors with regard to transactions with the…
Excess Business Holdings Rules for Donor Advised Funds
Legal Compliance Guidance
Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), the private foundation excess business holdings rule applies to donor-advised funds as if they were private foundations.1 That is, the holdings of a donor-advised fund in a business enterprise, together with the holdings of persons who are…
Substantiating Contributions to Donor-Advised Funds
Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
What requirements must our foundation follow for substantiating contributions to donor-advised funds?
To claim a charitable, gift or estate tax deduction for any contribution to a donor-advised fund, donors must obtain a contemporaneous written acknowledgement from the sponsoring organization that…
Taxable Distributions for Donor Advised Funds
Fundamentals, Legal Compliance Guidance
Public charities that hold donor advised funds must comply with special rules regarding payments from such funds. Provisions under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 require certain payments from donor advised funds to be made using expenditure responsibility, while certain other payments are…
Grants to Organizations from Donor-Advised Funds: Is Expenditure Responsibility Required?
Legal Compliance Guidance
Use this flowchart to determine if grants from donor-advised funds require expenditure responsibility.
Donor Advised Fund Gift to a 501(c)(3) Donor
Legal Compliance Guidance
Can a 501(c)(3) organization with a donor advised fund at a community foundation make a distribution to itself?
Unfortunately, when the law changed under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, this was left unclear. Intermediate sanctions rules prohibit grants and similar payments to donors from a…
Gifts from Private Foundations to Donor Advised Funds
Legal Compliance Guidance
Gifts from private foundations to field of interest funds, designated funds, and other funds that are not donor advised, are entirely permissible and do not raise special concerns. Gifts to a donor-advised fund can raise red flags as a potential donor control issue. The law does not prohibit gifts…
International Grantmaking from Donor Advised Funds
Legal Compliance Guidance
In existence since the 1930s, donor advised funds have been one of the fastest growing charitable giving vehicles of the past decade.[1] Capitalizing on this growth and on the increasing interest in international philanthropy among donors in the United States, a number of public charities have…