{"id":3087,"date":"2026-05-22T18:36:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/?page_id=3087"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:37:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:37:02","slug":"what-is-a-daf","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/what-is-a-daf\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a DAF?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/05\/What-is-a-DAF-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3089\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.499285782306447;width:381px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/05\/What-is-a-DAF-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/05\/What-is-a-DAF-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/05\/What-is-a-DAF-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/05\/What-is-a-DAF-570x380.png 570w, https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/05\/What-is-a-DAF-640x427.png 640w, https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/05\/What-is-a-DAF.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-x-large-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">What is a Donor Advised Fund?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/leaders\/jay-bennett\/\">Jay Bennett<\/a>, Founder and Chairman NCF Twin Cities<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">August, 2026\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/true-riches\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/true-riches\/\">True Riches<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over 90%&nbsp;of Christian giving is in cash&nbsp;while over 90%&nbsp;of assets held by most donors&nbsp;is&nbsp;not in cash.&nbsp;Such assets&nbsp;are&nbsp;in&nbsp;appreciated&nbsp;assets like publicly traded and&nbsp;private business&nbsp;interests and real estate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Donor\u00a0advised\u00a0funds (DAF) are exploding in popularity and are the fastest growing mechanism for tax-wise charitable giving. Tax-wise charitable giving is giving appreciated assets, not cash. At the National Christian Foundation, we say \u201cFriends don\u2019t let friends give cash.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A donor\u00a0advised\u00a0fund is a charitable investment account provided under the public charity tax-exemption of the \u201csponsor\u201d of such funds.\u00a0There are more than 1,000 sponsors of DAFs in America. Local\u00a0popular\u00a0examples include The Minneapolis Foundation, The St. Paul Foundation, Fidelity,\u00a0Schwab\u00a0and the National Christian Foundation\u00a0(NCF)\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0just to name\u00a0five.\u00a0 Importantly, the values of the sponsors vary.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While terms and conditions vary and need to be understood, allow me to use the NCF as an example:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>No cost to open online\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>No minimum contribution\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A tax-exempt empty fund is set up\u00a0immediately\u00a0and can be set up for testamentary use in the future or for immediate giving; or both.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Contributions of cash, publicly traded stock and\/or closely held business interests can be made to the public charity\u00a0sponsor and\u00a0immediately\u00a0allocated\u00a0to the individual DAF of the donor.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If cash contributions are made, they are made with after tax cash.\u00a0Think of\u00a0a dollar reduced by federal and\u00a0state\u00a0income taxes as worth 60 cents.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If contributions of appreciated assets\u00a0are made, the donor\u00a0gifts\u00a0the asset\u00a0in\u00a0kind\u00a0to the sponsor\u00a0without selling it. The\u00a0sponsor\u00a0takes the\u00a0stock or real estate\u00a0and sells it\u00a0thereby converting it into cash.\u00a0However, the sponsor\u00a0is a public\u00a0charity\u00a0so it pays no tax on the total value.\u00a0That total value of 100 cent dollars then gets deposited into the donor\u2019s DAF\u00a0to be given away\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0charities favored by the donor.\u00a0Would your\u00a0organizations\u00a0rather receive\u00a060 cents or 100 cents?\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The contributions\u00a0into\u00a0the DAF are invested\u00a0by the sponsor in one or more investment pools it offers to donors.\u00a0Those funds can be given away the day after the gift or they can remain invested for an extended\u00a0period of time\u00a0with the appreciation being added tax free to the DAF.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many non-profit organizations shy away from DAFs because they do not really understand them and think the DAF sponsor is getting the money from their donors.&nbsp;That is true, but&nbsp;the right mind set is the money&nbsp;takes&nbsp;one hop through the DAF to you.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Furthermore,\u00a0donors will give far more to their DAF in appreciated assets than they will to you in cash.\u00a0If\u00a0you encourage\u00a0your\u00a0higher capacity donors\u00a0to use a DAF to give appreciated assets\u00a0which are then sold inside the DAF to generate more cash,\u00a0you will be giving your donors great tax\u00a0advice\u00a0and they will likely\u00a0conclude they have more value in their DAF which they can give, at least in part, to you.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a psychological continuing sense of ownership in the DAF which the donor values even though the sponsor\u00a0is the legal owner.\u00a0This is why DAFs are called donor \u201cadvised&#8221; not donor \u201cdirected\u201d.\u00a0The donor gets an immediate tax deduction but\u00a0retains\u00a0only the right to advise the sponsor on where grants should go.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond the ongoing sense of ownership, DAFs also allow donors to give their gifts \u201cto God\u201d\u00a0i.e.\u00a0vertically to the Lord instead of horizontally to\u00a0a non-profit.\u00a0Then, the donor can seek the\u00a0Lord on\u00a0where the DAF should make grants and on what timetable.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To provide some comfort, DAF sponsors would not be in business long if they denied too many grant requests.&nbsp;The NCF approves 99% of the grant requests it receives.&nbsp;However, grant policies do vary from sponsor to sponsor and both progressive policies and traditional Bible based policies are available.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The NCF Twin Cities through&nbsp;Jay Bennett (<a href=\"mailto:jbennett@ncfgiving.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">jbennett@ncfgiving.com<\/a>) or Tyler Van Eps (<a href=\"mailto:tvaneps@ncfgiving.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tvaneps@ncfgiving.com<\/a>) is available to provide further information if this is of interest.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a Donor Advised Fund? Jay Bennett, Founder and Chairman NCF Twin Cities August, 2026\u00a0| True Riches Over 90%&nbsp;of Christian giving is in cash&nbsp;while over 90%&nbsp;of assets held by most donors&nbsp;is&nbsp;not in cash.&nbsp;Such assets&nbsp;are&nbsp;in&nbsp;appreciated&nbsp;assets like publicly traded and&nbsp;private business&nbsp;interests and real estate.&nbsp; Donor\u00a0advised\u00a0funds (DAF) are exploding in popularity and are the fastest growing mechanism [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/template-landing-page-story.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3087","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3087"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3090,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3087\/revisions\/3090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncfgiving.com\/twincities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}