Donor Advised Funds (DAF)
Donor advised funds (DAF) are an increasingly popular charitable giving and planning tools. While you can establish a DAF through a national financial institution (like Fidelity or Schwab), the Community Foundation offers its donor-advised fund holders more personal attention and deeper connections to the nonprofits whose work is essential to effecting local community change. We would be happy to talk with you (and your professional advisor) about the ease and benefits of moving your existing DAF to CFHZ, or setting up a new DAF with CFHZ.
THE STANDARD BENEFITS OF A DAF
The Community Foundation offers donor-advised fund holders the same tax and administrative benefits as a commercial gift fund, including:
- Online access to the donor-advised fund to view balances, contributions, and grants.
- Simple process for requesting grants to favorite charities.
- Streamlined tax reporting, often represented by just one letter to provide to an accountant at tax time, even when the donor-advised fund is used to support dozens of individual charities throughout the year.
- All back-office administration, tax receipts, recordkeeping, and other requirements.
- Favorable tax-deductibility of contributions to the fund.
THE BENEFITS OF A DAF AT CFHZ
Unlike standard commercial gift funds, CFHZ offers high-level, customized services to its donor-advised fund holders:
- A local team with their finger on the pulse of community needs, the strengths of specific nonprofits, and how to structure grant making for the highest possible community benefit.
- Opportunities to learn more about specific issue areas, through communications and special events.
- Personal service by knowledgeable staff to complete gifts of appreciated stock or complex assets such as real estate or closely-held stock.
- Administrative fees that are reinvested into the community foundation, itself a nonprofit, to help support operations, grow its mission, and help our community thrive now and in the future.
- Concierge-level service to structure estate gifts to charities or to your DAF to continue a multi-generational giving plan to continue your legacy of giving.
- Personalized philanthropy and corporate giving services to foster a well-rounded, holistic approach to philanthropy and help articulate values and dive deep into interest areas.
- Hands-on assistance from local experts who understand both local needs and welcome the opportunity to research and identify causes aligned with donors’ goals and priorities.
- Staff members who live in the community they serve and often personally know the leaders and staff of grantee organizations and regularly hear about their needs first-hand.
- Give anonymously, if desired.
- Automated recurring gifts.
- Online access to your fund, 24-hours a day.
- No minimum required to open or maintain a fund.
Whether you are considering moving your existing DAF from a commercial gift fund, or establishing a new DAF, working with CFHZ could be a good fit to help you achieve your charitable goals. We value our relationships with our donors and strive to provide the best donor service experience.
We always encourage donors to first seek the advice of their legal, financial, or tax advisors when considering a gift of non-cash assets. While our team does not offer tax advice, we stay knowledgeable on charitable giving strategies. Please contact Colleen Hill, Vice President of Development & Donor Services, at chill@cfhz.org or by calling 616–994–8853 for more information or questions.