As the year winds down, we enter Giving Season—a time to respond to requests from the causes you care about and reflect on your philanthropic goals for the year ahead.
In a world marked by complex challenges and opportunities, dedicated individuals and innovative organizations are working tirelessly to make a difference. Their success often hinges on the support of philanthropists like you. Your contributions help transform ideas and intentions into meaningful, lasting impact.
This Giving Season, think about using a donor-advised fund (DAF) as a flexible and efficient way to meet today’s immediate needs or plan for future impact.
For quick access to year-end giving guidance, visit and bookmark Giving Season Central or download a PDF our Essentials of Year-End Giving brochure.
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How DAFs Simplify Giving
- Streamline your charitable giving with a centralized account and a sponsor that handles all administration and reporting.
- Receive tax benefits for the current taxable year while deciding when and where to direct your support over time.
Think about using a donor-advised fund (DAF) as a flexible and efficient way to meet today's immediate needs and to plan for future impact.
Convert a Wide Range of Assets into Philanthropic Capital
National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) can help you explore the potential of gifting a wide range of assets. Beyond cash and appreciated securities, we accept closely held business interests, restricted and controlled securities, cryptocurrency and alternative investments like hedge funds and private equity.
Tax-Smart Year-End Giving Strategies
Contributing a portion of your assets prior to year-end can reduce your taxable income and maximize support for your favorite causes.
Think Beyond Your Checkbook
Examine your balance sheet for long-term appreciated assets. Capital gains taxes may be reduced or eliminated when assets held longer than one year are gifted directly to a DAF.
Bunch Contributions
Contribute multiple years’ worth of planned giving to maximize your tax benefit. This strategy is especially effective if your income is unusually high this year, perhaps due to a bonus, sale of a business or inherited assets.
Prefund Your DAF Before Retirement
If your tax bracket is higher now than you expect it to be in the coming years, consider making a pre-retirement contribution. This can offset income in a high-earning year and fund your long-term philanthropic goals.
How NPT Handles Complex Asset Contributions
Non-cash assets require a longer lead time for NPT to conduct thorough due diligence.
Donors or advisors consult with NPT about the proposed asset for contribution, including the timing of the liquidity event, tax implications, anticipated carrying costs, restrictions on the asset and issues of control.
Once a contribution meets initial criteria, NPT’s due diligence process begins to assess risk, cost and transferability. Required documentation includes governing documents, related agreements, financial statements and more. This process may take up to 2 to 8 weeks, or longer, based on asset type. The costs associated with this due diligence will be charged to the DAF.
If NPT agrees to accept the contribution, the parties will complete the necessary paperwork to transfer the asset to NPT for allocation to your DAF. This paperwork will include a gift agreement setting forth the rights and obligations of NPT and the donor with respect to the gift, and a Contribution Agreement form. You will be required to obtain a qualified appraisal of the contributed asset to substantiate the gift value for income tax purposes.
Liquidation timing varies. Some contributions, like cryptocurrencies, are liquidated immediately; others may be held for a longer time depending on the circumstances. In cases where the asset will be held for some period of time, any carrying costs associated with the asset will be charged to the DAF, and sufficient liquidity must be maintained in the DAF to meet NPT’s minimum liquidity requirements.
Effortless Giving with Maximum Flexibility
By centralizing your philanthropy in a DAF, you manage all your giving from one convenient tool. Our secure online donor portal enables you to explore and research more than 1.8 million nonprofits, recommend grants, access gift receipts and review your giving history. You focus on giving, while NPT handles the administrative side of philanthropy.
Get Money to Charities Faster
Charities benefit from Grant Payments, a digital grantmaking solution developed with PayPal. Enrolled nonprofits receive grant proceeds via electronic funds transfer, with funds reaching their PayPal accounts in minutes.
Create Your Impact, Your Way
With an NPT DAF, you can support organizations worldwide, set up custom grant agreements and choose to give with full transparency or complete anonymity.
Automate Your Giving
Set up recurring grants on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis. This creates a reliable revenue stream for nonprofits to support their operations, expand services and invest in new programs.
Involve Others in Your Philanthropy
A DAF allows you to involve family or loved ones in your charitable decisions. Name joint or secondary advisors to make decisions with you, and successor advisors to carry on your philanthropic legacy.
Get in Touch
As you prepare for the Giving Season, our team is ready to support you. We provide insights into innovative giving methods and consulting services for those looking to establish a DAF giving strategy.
Contact us at npt@nptrust.org or (888) 878-7900 for direct assistance.
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About NPT
For over 25 years, NPT has helped donors achieve their giving objectives. We are proud to have assisted them in making over 778,000 grants totaling more than $31.2 billion to charities worldwide. We are among the largest grantmaking institutions in the United States.
