NPT Report: Record Growth for DAFs

NPT released the seventh annual Donor-Advised Fund Report. Our 2013 report, which analyzes 2012 data from the donor-advised fund market, has a number of findings that demonstrate the increasing popularity of this particular charitable giving vehicle:

• Assets increased almost 19%, from $38 billion in 2011 to $45 billion in 2012—the highest single-year increase since we started tracking the data.
• Contributions increased nearly 35% from $10 billion in 2011 to $13.71 billio in 2012.
• Grantmaking reaching an all-time high. Donor-advised funds granted out more than $8.6 billion in 2012, a 6% increase over 2011.

This dramatic growth was largely spurred by various economic events in 2012, including the “Fiscal Cliff.” The planned budget cuts and proposed tax changes that were part of the Fiscal Cliff may have encouraged donors to front-load their giving in the event that the charitable tax deduction was changed or eliminated.

Because the Fiscal Cliff happened at the close of the 2012 calendar year and many of the data subjects have June 30 fiscal year ends, this one policy event is going to have a two-year effect on the donor-advised fund market. We look forward to seeing continued growth in our next report too.

For more, read the report here.//www.nptrust.org/daf-report/