Donor-Advised Fund Giving Reflects Larger Philanthropy Patterns—Mostly

Giving USA has released “The Data on Donor-Advised Funds: New Insights You Need to Know,” a report that analyzes giving patterns of the largest administrators of donor-advised funds (DAFs) and their millions of donor-advisors against the giving patterns reflected in IUPUI’s annual Giving USA reports and other national giving assessments. The top-line conclusion from the study’s 56-page report is that the rapidly increasing share of charitable funds held by DAFs largely reflects the general giving patterns of philanthropy as a whole in the US, but there are some significant exceptions.