Strategies to Inform Donors About DAF and IRA Gifts

A few months ago, Jennifer LaMont--CEO of the American Swimming Coaches Association--and I came up with the need for a "fundraising" education program that I would teach at the ASCA World Clinic for coaches & administrators. I began my message with the idea that philanthropy should be a pillar of team culture so fundraising can have a meaningful impact. I shared practical tactics coaches and administrators should be pursuing: 1) Write handwritten thank-you notes to show appreciation 2) Message to donors the steps to take to receive an employer matching contribution 3) Message to grandparents on how they can donate through a qualified charitable distribution and a minimum IRA distribution while receiving generous tax benefits 4) In 2026, any individual who has a standard tax deduction will be able to donate up to $1,000 and receive an additional deduction ($2,000 for married couples) 5) Families have more than $250 billion (and growing) in Donor Advised Funds (DAF)--develop a message program so that local charities can participate in the generosity from families that are giving through their DAFs. The more we can support our grassroots programs' financial success through initiatives like philanthropy, the better they can invest in delivering services and making a meaningful impact.

Asset-Based Giving: Your Year-End Secret Weapon 📬 Most nonprofits spend October perfecting their appeal letter while ignoring the giving methods that could double some of their largest gifts. Your donors have appreciated stock in brokerage accounts, DAF balances ready to deploy, and IRAs from which they're required to withdraw. But your website says "Donate Now" with a credit card form and nothing else. The methods you're probably not promoting: 💰 Donor-Advised Funds: $54.77 billion flowed through DAFs to nonprofits in 2023. Your $500 annual donor might have one, so make sure you have a DAF widget (see dafwidget.com) on your organization's website. 📊 Appreciated Stock: Less than 6% of wealthy donors give securities, yet they avoid capital gains tax up to 23.8%. Platforms like donatestock.com handle the details, especially if your organization doesn't have a brokerage account. 💵 IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions: Donors 70½+ can give up to $108,000 directly from retirement accounts in 2025, tax-free. Many longtime supporters qualify but don't know you accept these. 🪙 Cryptocurrency: Average crypto donation was $6,295 in 2022—31 times larger than typical online gifts. 56% of top U.S. charities now accept it. 💼 Matching Gifts: Only 1.31% of donations get matched despite 10% being eligible. Add matching gift info to every thank-you message. 🏠 Real Estate & Planned Gifts: Bequests reached $45.84 billion in 2024. Even small donors leave legacy gifts. What prevents donors from activating these giving options? 🚫 Information buried three clicks deep in a PDF 🚫 "Contact us to learn more" instead of clear instructions 🚫 Treating these as separate campaigns What actually works: ✅ Dedicated landing page with simple instructions for each method  ✅ Tax benefits explained in donor language, not accountant-speak ✅ Including all options in year-end appeals: "Give via credit card, check, stock, DAF, or IRA" ✅ One sentence in cultivation meetings about stock and DAF gifts The timing reality: ⏰ Donors meet with financial advisors in October-November for year-end planning. If asset-based giving isn't on your website when they look, you're not part of that conversation. Small shops don't need separate campaigns for each method. You need website pages with instructions that make sense, and appeal letters that mention these options. Monthly giving remains crucial, accounting for 31% of online revenue in 2024. But asset-based gifts unlock the transformational donations that change your trajectory. Your October checklist: Audit your website. Can donors easily find instructions for stock, DAF, and IRA gifts? Fix that this week. #Fundraising #YearEndAppeal #Nonprofits #Development #DonorEngagement #NonprofitStrategy #DAF #PlannedGiving

With the upcoming tax law changes, year-end giving will look different this season, not because donors are “fatigued,” but because incentives shift on January 1. Itemizers (often your larger givers) are generally advantaged by giving in 2025, while many standard deduction households could be better off giving in early January. Don’t guess who’s in which bucket; be prepared to teach both clearly. What’s changing January 1, 2026: - Non-itemizers get a deduction again: up to $1,000 single / $2,000 joint for cash gifts to public charities (DAFs/supporting orgs/private non-operating foundations excluded). - Itemizers face a new floor: only the portion of annual giving above 0.5% of AGI is deductible. Expect more “bunching.” - Top-bracket cap: the value of itemized deductions is capped at 35% (not 37%), reducing the tax benefit on significant gifts. - Corporations: a new 1% of taxable income floor before gifts count toward the existing 10% cap—look for fewer, larger, multi-year commitments. - Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs): rules are unchanged; IRA owners 70½+ can still make direct gifts custodian-to-charity, outside itemized-deduction limits. What to do now (between now and December 31): - Draft two-bucket copy everywhere. If you itemize, consider completing gifts by December 31 (assets welcome). If you take the standard deduction, early January may be beneficial for you, so please check with your tax adviser. - Make appreciated asset gifts effortless. Publish “Give Stock in 3 Steps” (DTC + transfer steps), a custodian letter, and a stock gift notification form. - Prioritize asset solicitations in 1:1s. Lead with appreciated securities, DAF contributions/recommendations, and QCDs for eligible donors. - Be DAF-ready. Add a “Recommend a grant from your DAF” button and plan for quick acknowledgments. - Name the cutoffs. Post brokerage deadlines, wire/ACH details, and holiday hours. - Plan for a new corporate reality. Propose multi-year structures that help partners clear the 1% floor in giving years; align installments with their tax calendar. The team at Benefactor Group is ready to assist, so please reach out with any questions. #Fundraising #CharitableGiving #Nonprofits #DAF #Philanthropy