Research, Reports, and Publications
Disciplines
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Original Citation
Heist, H. D., Vance-McMullen, D., Sumsion, R. M., Williams, J. (2024). National survey of donor advised fund managers. Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (DAFRC). https://www.dafresearchcollaborative.org/s/The-National-Survey-of-Donor-Advised-Fund-Managers.pdf
Abstract
Donor advised funds (DAFs) are the fastest-growing form of philanthropy. In 2023, nearly 1.8 million DAF accounts received about $59 billion in contributions, distributed about $55 billion in grants, and ended the year with about $252 billion in assets (National Philanthropic Trust, 2024).
The Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (DAFRC) is a group of academic and nonprofit researchers leading a 4-year, comprehensive research initiative to provide empirical data and insights on the characteristics and activities of donor advised funds (DAFs) in the United States. One of the initiative's main goals is to gather and analyze information about DAFs that is not available from publicly accessible data sources.
The National Survey of Donor Advised Fund Managers is the second of three major nationwide projects conducted by the DAFRC. The first report, the 2024 National Study on Donor Advised Funds, provided empirical trends based on a national dataset of nine years of DAF records from 111 DAF providers. This report provides insights into sponsor-level practices associated with the facilitation of philanthropy through DAFs including strategy, operational capacity, philanthropic advising, internal policy execution, and the marketing of DAF sponsors. The final report, the National Survey of Donor Advised Fund Donors, will present insights into how individuals think about and use DAFs as part of their household giving.
ScholarWorks Citation
Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (DAFRC); Heist, H. Daniel; Vance-McMullen, Danielle; Sumsion, Rachel; and Williams, Jeff, "The National Survey of Donor Advised Fund Managers" (2025). Research, Reports, and Publications. 109.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/jcppubs/109
