Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) are charitable giving tools with a lot of complexity and ambiguity. So how can nonprofit staff engage donors in discussions about using them more effectively (or dismantling them all together)? We talk about a guide Nia and her colleague Maegan wrote for nonprofits to start conversations, make more informed decisions, and ultimately, disrupt the lack of DAF giving.
In today’s episode, we’re discussing why DAFs are not accountable or trackable once created, why foundations benefit and make money off DAFs without any incentive to actually distribute them, and how that money deprives the government from revenue and the public from services that could actually benefit society.
What’s in this episode:
- [05:31] Introducing DAFs and why we should know about them
- [07:22] Why a donor would use a DAF and why nonprofits should care
- [14:12] Elon Musk puts billions into a DAF, and what that means for government resources and spending
- [19:57] How to shift conversations to help and educate foundations
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Resources Mentioned
- Let’s Talk About DAFs Guide from Prismatic Consulting
- Book club is reading Incite! The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex
- Past episode: #64 | Donor Advised Funds: Daffy DAFs
- Past episode: #81 | ACE Act: Who doesn’t want DAFs to be regulated?
A big thanks to our sponsors for this episode on complicity in the nonprofit world: Brittny Wilson Consulting and Prismatic Consulting, and to Jake Walker Music for our theme song!