Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are no longer a niche giving vehicle reserved for the ultra-wealthy. With more than 3.5 million DAF accounts holding upward of $326 billion in assets, according to the Donor-Advised Fund Research Collaborative’s 2025 Annual DAF Report, DAFs have become one of the most significant sources of charitable dollars in the country. Contributions surged at year-end 2025 as some donors front-loaded their giving before less favorable deduction rules took effect in 2026 under new federal tax legislation.
The good news: you don’t need a major overhaul to attract more DAF dollars. These strategies are practical, actionable, and worth starting today.
1. Find the DAF Donors Who Already Give to You
DAF donors are almost certainly already in your database. A donor giving you $150 by credit card each year may have tens of thousands of dollars sitting in a DAF account. Active DAF marketing surfaces donors who have DAFs but haven’t yet used them to give to you. Actively promoting DAF giving across channels, with a clear call to action, is what moves the needle. Organizations that have made this shift report dramatic results: double-digit growth in DAF revenue and donor counts within a single fiscal year, with some seeing DAF gifts account for 17% or more of annual fund revenue.
Also, make sure that DAF gifts already arriving don’t go unrecognized, as DAF gifts may be a clue to prospective major donors you can’t afford to miss. Good gift entry and clean data is the foundation of smarter fundraising.
2. Treat DAF Donors Like Major Donors
This is perhaps the most important mindset shift: a DAF donor is not a transactional giver. They have intentionally set aside charitable dollars and deserve to be treated accordingly.
Thank them as you would any donor but note that DAF gift acknowledgments should not include standard tax language because the donor received their deduction when they funded the DAF, not when they directed a grant to your organization. When you know someone is a DAF donor, flag them for a closer look and consider moving them into a portfolio with a stewardship plan and upgrade pathway. DAF accounts at sponsors like Vanguard Charitable require significant minimums to open, signaling real philanthropic capacity even if the initial gift was modest.
Think long-term, too. Approximately 30% of DAF holders designate a nonprofit to receive remaining funds in their account in the event that the funds exceed their lifetimes, opening up opportunities for legacy giving conversations.
3. Launch a DAF-Specific Webpage
Try this quick test: search your organization’s name plus “donor-advised fund” or “DAF” and see where it takes you. If the answer is nowhere useful, that’s your first fix.
Your DAF giving page should include your organization’s legal name (which may differ from your operating name, a critical detail when donors are directing grants), your tax EIN, a brief statement of impact, and a staff contact for questions. Note any restrictions on DAF use—they cannot be applied to event tickets, membership benefits with tangible value, or sponsorship tables. If you use a DAF giving tool such as DAF Pay (by Chariot), make it prominent on your donation page. Donors often default to whatever giving method is most immediately in front of them, so make DAF giving the easy option.
4. Promote DAF Giving Everywhere, Including by Mail
- DAF fundraising is not just a digital strategy. Add a simple reference to DAF giving on your direct mail reply forms, such as: “To donate using a donor-advised fund, contact us at [email].” Organizations that have added this one line to a capital campaign mailing have seen 25% of resulting gifts come in via DAFs, including some from donors who had never previously given more than a few hundred dollars.
- Consider adding a QR code to your DAF page and/or checkbox to reply forms: “I will give a gift from my donor-advised fund.”
- In email appeals, a P.S. referencing DAF giving often catches the donor’s eye last, leaving a final imprint.
- And don’t overlook the phone. Tele-fundraising teams can ask donors about their DAF accounts by name, a personalized prompt that also serves as a helpful reminder.
5. Take Advantage of DAF Day and Peak Giving Moments
Also, DAF Day, an annual giving event established by Chariot, is a natural on-ramp for organizations just starting to elevate their DAF strategy. My Philanthropy Team has clients that have seen a measurable uptick in DAF gifts after promoting DAF Day. You don’t need a DAF widget to participate, though if you haven’t already explored adding DAF Pay or DAF Direct to your toolkit, it’s worth considering. Treat it like a major giving day: send advance emails, feature a donor testimonial, and follow up afterward. A match, even a modest one, significantly increases response.
More broadly, any high-volume giving moment—Giving Tuesday, a year-end campaign, a fundraising match window—is an opportunity to layer in a DAF-specific ask.
6. Build Relationships with Community Foundations
With roughly 900 community foundations across the country, they deserve focused attention. They tend to have higher average account sizes, higher payout rates (around 22%, compared to the 5% required of private foundations), and staff whose explicit job is to connect donors with nonprofits they’ll care about.
Share a concise one-pager about your mission and impact. Send updates when something significant happens: a program milestone, a crisis response moment, or a specific need with a dollar amount attached. Be concrete. Describe exactly what you need, what it costs, and who it will serve. Avoid cold-calling DAF donors directly; build the relationship with foundation staff instead and let them make the introductions. Treat anonymous DAF gifts just as thoughtfully, including thanking the donor through the sponsor when possible and inviting donors to identify themselves for proper acknowledgment and stewardship.
7. Get Your Team on the Same Page
None of this works if your internal teams are siloed. Make sure gift processors, major gifts officers, direct mail teams, planned giving staff, and tele-fundraisers all understand what a DAF is and how gifts are processed. A brief internal presentation builds the fluency needed for consistent messaging across channels.
Record each gift in both the individual gift record and the constituent record, noting the sponsoring organization or company’s name and how it was received. Consistent data hygiene ensures that your intelligence translates into smarter outreach. A donor may give via DAF one year and by credit card the next; gift-level detail tells you which acknowledgment applies and when a more personalized follow-up is warranted.
The opportunity is real and growing. DAF assets are at record levels, donors are actively looking for organizations to support, and most nonprofits are still leaving significant contributions on the table. The organizations seeing the biggest results aren’t doing anything exotic. They’re simply making DAF giving visible, easy, and worth doing.
My Philanthropy Team can help you get your team on the same page to promote DAF giving throughout your donor communications and delight your DAF donors.
For a deeper dive into DAF fundraising strategies, the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s webinar “Engaging Donor-Advised Fund Donors in 2026” is an excellent resource, featuring perspectives from nonprofit practitioners and community foundation leaders on finding, engaging, and retaining DAF donors.
As your partner in fundraising strategy, My Philanthropy Team is here to help you translate this into action. We’d love to brainstorm how to leverage these opportunities for your organization.
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