Earlier this month, the nonprofit sector organized a nationwide giving day to boost consciousness for donor-advised funds (DAFs). The occasion, dubbed DAF Day, happened on Oct. 10. Right here’s an summary of how the inaugural occasion for this standard giving technique went.
An underutilized however rising channel, DAFs maintain $230 billion. Nonprofits have reported DAF income has elevated 214% since 2019, in accordance with Chariot’s “2024 DAF Fundraising Report.” In the meantime, half of those self same organizations surveyed reported declines throughout non-DAF income.
Although more-detailed outcomes haven’t been launched but, The Donors’ Fund, a web based DAF, reported its each day giving elevated by 4 occasions on DAF Day, leading to a $3 million surge. In the meantime, Daffy, a mobile-first DAF supplier, noticed a 440% improve in each day donations on DAF Day.
“We had been thrilled to see the surge in engagement surrounding DAF Day,” Adam Nash, co-founder and CEO of Daffy, mentioned in an announcement. “This industry-wide initiative not solely highlighted the facility of DAFs in growing particular person giving, but additionally aligned completely with our mission: to assist individuals be extra beneficiant, extra typically. It gave our members a significant alternative to hitch a bigger motion and make a fair higher influence.”
One hurdle to creating this income stream is that a lot of your present donors could have DAFs that your group is unaware of. The Chariot report discovered that 26% of DAF donors had been already giving to a corporation once they made their first DAF reward.
Chariot, the fee firm behind DAFpay, which permits DAF donors to checkout inside a nonprofit’s donation type, organized the motion and created a advertising toolkit and different training efforts. General, Chariot discovered the variety of items that day had been 10 occasions the year-to-date each day median, and the greenback quantity was eight occasions the year-to-date each day median through its fee possibility.
“Regardless of the way you measure it, the extent of engagement was completely unbelievable,” Mitch Stein, Chariot’s head of technique, mentioned in an announcement. “We noticed a file variety of organizations getting DAF items by DAFpay in a single day — 4 occasions the prior excessive water mark, which was really set simply the day earlier than on Oct. 9.”
The variety of nonprofits that participated grew from 30 organizations, together with The Michael J. Fox Basis for Parkinson’s Analysis, ACLU Basis and Susan G. Komen — which signed on previous to the July 30 announcement of DAF Day — to greater than 1,200 organizations by Oct. 10. To advertise the giving day, nonprofits created quite a few emails, texts, mailers and social media posts about DAFs.
“We had been proud to take part within the first-ever DAF Day as a technique to educate and encourage our neighborhood to study extra about donor-advised funds and the way they’ll make an instantaneous influence on Parkinson’s analysis, whereas making a legacy of philanthropy,” Sarah Chatham, vp and head of particular person giving at The Michael J. Fox Basis for Parkinson’s Analysis, which was additionally a launch associate for DAF Day. “Like many nonprofit organizations, we now have been working to construct acceptable methods that have interaction this fast-growing donor section. DAF Day gave us a collective focus to rally round – each inside our group and amongst DAF donors.”
The ACLU Basis reported receiving extra digital DAF items on Oct. 10 than it had because it started accepting digital DAF items. As a part of a million-dollar match marketing campaign, the typical reward was $1,200.
“Giving days are extremely motivating to our supporters,” Meghan Lee, affiliate director of influence giving for the ACLU, mentioned in an announcement. “As we’ve watched the fast improve in DAF utilization over the previous few years, it made good sense for us to associate in a giving day devoted to this essential donor section.”
A prime DAF reward recipient previous to Oct. 10, Susan G. Komen doubled its prior each day whole by additional activating donors throughout Breast Most cancers Consciousness Month.
“DAF giving has change into a core a part of our total fundraising technique,” Trish Davis, Susan G. Komen’s vp of main items and deliberate giving, mentioned in an announcement. “Combining the expertise of DAFpay with an thrilling and collective motion in DAF Day is clearly spurring a brand new wave of DAF giving — one which nonprofits in every single place are in determined want of.”
In case your nonprofit hasn’t already begun selling your group’s acceptance of DAF items, now’s the time to take action and to plan to take part within the subsequent DAF Day, scheduled for Oct. 9, 2025.
