JENKINTOWN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 2021 Donor-Advised Fund Report, the most comprehensive data on the state of donor-advised fund (DAF) philanthropy in the U.S., details growth in all key DAF metrics for the 11th consecutive year. The just-released report includes initial DAF donor response to the global crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic and reflects the most significant grantmaking growth in a decade.
The 2021 DAF Report details growth in all key benchmarks. Grants from DAFs to charities around the world increased 27.0% to $34.67 billion, contributions to DAFs grew 20.6% to $47.85 billion, charitable assets increased 9.9% to $159.83 billion, and the number of DAF accounts surpassed one million for the first time.
“The 15th annual Donor-Advised Fund Report reflects DAF donors’ initial, very generous response to the COVID-19 pandemic, calls for racial justice, and major climate change-related disasters,” said Eileen Heisman, CEO of National Philanthropic Trust. “2020 was a year that defied expectations with global crises, amplified social movements, and economic disruptions due to the pandemic. What this report affirms is that DAF donors not only responded quickly but also gave with historic generosity to the causes that mean most to them.”
Heisman continued, “Grants grew 30% faster than contributions in 2020. Grant growth has outpaced contribution growth six out of the last ten years, and total annual grantmaking from DAFs has increased four-fold over the past decade.”
2021 Donor-Advised Fund Report Key Findings
National Philanthropic Trust’s 2021 Donor-Advised Fund Report identified growth in all key metrics for the 11th consecutive year. The 15th annual report includes a review of key DAF benchmarks since 2016.
- Value of grants from DAF accounts to qualified charities totaled $34.67 billion in 2020, a 27.0% increase from $27.29 billion in 2019. This is the highest grantmaking increase in a decade and the first year grantmaking has exceeded $30 billion.
- Contributions to DAF accounts totaled $47.85 billion, a 20.6% increase from $39.69 billion in 2019. All contributions are irrevocable and destined for qualified charities.
- Charitable assets in all DAF accounts totaled $159.83 billion, a 9.9% increase from $145.49 billion in 2019. Continued growth of charitable assets under management reflects increases in the number of DAFs, contributions from donors and investment gains.
- Number of DAF accounts in the U.S. totaled 1,005,099, a 16.3% increase compared to 864,187 in 2019. This is the first year the number of DAF accounts exceeded one million. The ease of management and flexibility of DAFs as well as the emergence of workplace giving accounts and lower contribution minimums contributed to this increase.
- Average DAF account size was $159,019, a 5.5% decrease compared to $168,355 in 2019. As DAFs have become more mainstream, the number of accounts increase and the average fund size decreases.
- The grant payout rate (percentage of total charitable assets at the end of the year that a charitable sponsor grants from a DAF to qualified charities) increased to 23.8% from 22.3% in 2019. The DAF grant payout rate has exceeded 20% for every year on record, demonstrating that DAF donors are a consistent, sustainable resource for charitable support.
“DAFs are more accessible and popular than ever because of their ease of use and advancements in mobile technology,” said Heisman. “As the number of DAF accounts in the U.S. surpasses one million, we observe that this charitable giving vehicle is filling a need for donors whose goal is to be active philanthropists and now increasingly for businesses and corporations who offer DAFs as an employee benefit.”
Since 2006, the Donor-Advised Fund Report has been published as a public service. The report began as a two-page analysis of 10 DAF sponsors. Today, the annual report compiles data from almost 1,000 DAF sponsors using the most extensive methodology developed by an independent team of statisticians and researchers. The report is widely recognized as the preeminent source for DAF sector data.
The full 2021 Donor-Advised Fund Report, which includes a comparison by charitable sponsor types, is available at no charge with no login requirement. Content attribution: National Philanthropic Trust, NPTrust.org.
DAF Report Methodology
The DAF Report, the most extensive and current examination of DAF philanthropy, primarily uses data from IRS Form 990 filings to provide the most up-to-date and reliable analysis of the DAF sector. The 2021 report examined 976 charitable organizations that sponsor donor-advised funds, including national charities, community foundations and other sponsoring charities. A glossary of terms can be found in the report’s table of contents.
About National Philanthropic Trust
Founded in 1996, National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) marks its 25th Anniversary in 2021 as the largest national, independent public charity that manages donor-advised funds and one of the leading grantmaking institutions in the U.S. Since its founding, NPT has raised more than $27.0 billion in charitable funding and has made more than 434,000 grants exceeding $15.5 billion to nonprofits around the world. NPT annually publishes the Donor-Advised Fund Report, the sector’s authority on the state of DAF philanthropy. In early 2021, NPT published the first sector-wide survey of DAF response to COVID-19, the DAF COVID Grantmaking Survey. Visit NPT’s resource library to learn what you can do with a DAF and NPT impact investing solutions. More at NPTrust.org and NPTGivingPoint.org.
