2011 DAF Report Preview (Part II)

For the Donor-Advised Fund Report, NPT’s annual survey of donor-advised fund programs, we break down sponsoring charities into three categories: National Charities, Community Foundations and Single-Issue Charities.  National Charities include 501(c)(3)s created by financial service companies and Single-Issue Charities include faith-based institutions, universities and “issue-specific” charities.

Over the last several years the fastest growing segment has been the National Programs.  Last year, National Programs achieved record highs in number of accounts (88,396), assets ($12 billion) and grants ($2.9 billion).  And while contributions to National Programs fell short of their 2008 high, the nearly $4 billion received was a 41% increase from 2009. Currently, National Programs serve more donors and receive more contributions than the other two market segments combined.  

Despite granting out 65% more than that of Community Foundations ($2.9 billion versus $1.7 billion), NPT projects that by next year’s Donor-Advised Fund Report, the assets in National Programs will surpass those held by Community Foundations.