Donor-advised funds now hold hundreds of billions in charitable assets. Learn how DAFs work, how to find DAF grants, and how nonprofits can attract DAF giving.

If you haven’t paid attention to donor-advised funds (DAFs), you’ve been missing one of the largest and fastest-growing sources of charitable giving in the United States. DAFs now hold hundreds of billions of dollars in assets and are responsible for an increasing share of grants made to nonprofits each year.

But DAFs work differently from traditional foundations. They’re not a single funder you can apply to. They’re vehicles for individual donors, which changes the rules of engagement entirely.

This guide explains how DAFs work, how to find DAF money, and how to position your nonprofit to receive it.

TL;DR: Quick Answers

What is a DAF? A charitable account at a sponsoring public charity (Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, community foundations, and others) that an individual donor uses to make grants over time.
Who decides DAF grants? The donor recommends grants; the sponsoring organization technically makes them. Decisions are donor-driven, not foundation-driven.
How are they different from foundation grants? You usually can’t “apply” to a DAF, you cultivate donors who use DAFs.
Why do DAFs matter? They’re a massive and growing share of charitable giving; nonprofits that don’t engage donors about DAF giving are leaving money on the table.

How Donor-Advised Funds Work

A donor opens a DAF by contributing assets (cash, appreciated securities, sometimes private business interests) to a sponsoring public charity, like Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, a community foundation, or a faith-based or affinity-based sponsor. The donor gets an immediate tax deduction.

The assets are then invested in the DAF and grow tax-free. The donor “advises” the sponsor on which charities to grant to over time. The sponsor is legally the grantmaker, but in practice the donor decides where the money goes (within IRS rules and the sponsor’s policies).

For nonprofits, this means DAF grants land like donor gifts, not like foundation grants. They arrive from the sponsor (e.g., “Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund”), but the real giver is an individual.

DAFs by the Numbers

The “hundreds of billions” framing is real, and the specifics are worth knowing. According to the National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) 2024 DAF Report, DAFs held roughly $251.52 billion in charitable assets in 2023, and grants from DAFs to charities topped $54.77 billion that year. The average DAF account held about $141,120 in 2023.

One number matters especially for grant seekers: DAFs paid out at a 23.9% rate in 2023, per NPT, far above the mean private-foundation payout of about 8.7% in 2024 (per Candid). In other words, DAF dollars tend to move to working nonprofits faster than foundation endowment dollars do, which is exactly why cultivating DAF donors is worth your time. For how DAF payout compares to the broader funding landscape, see our 2026 grant statistics roundup.

Why DAFs Matter to Your Nonprofit

A few realities every nonprofit should sit with:

DAFs hold a vast and growing pool of assets, much of which will eventually be granted out.
DAF donors are often high-capacity individuals who already have a long-term giving plan and a tax incentive to give.
Many nonprofits already receive DAF grants without realizing it, an unrecognized “donor” labeled “Fidelity Charitable” is almost always a DAF gift.
Engaging donors about DAFs unlocks giving that wouldn’t happen otherwise, particularly appreciated-stock and non-cash gifts.

Can You “Apply” for a DAF Grant?

For most DAFs, no, not in the traditional sense. You can’t submit a proposal to “Fidelity Charitable” the way you would to a foundation; the sponsor doesn’t make giving decisions on its own.

There are exceptions:

Community foundations that host DAFs often also run their own grantmaking programs you can apply to, see community foundation grants. The DAF money is separate.
Some sponsors offer “open DAF” or anonymous-grant programs that nonprofits can be discovered through, but this is the exception.
Field-of-interest funds and faith-based DAF sponsors sometimes run grantmaking that you can apply to.

But the dominant path to DAF money isn’t an application. It’s donor cultivation.

How to Attract DAF Giving

Treat DAF giving as individual major-donor work rather than foundation research. Practical steps:

1. Make sure donors know they can give from a DAF. Add DAF language to your website, donate pages, and major-donor conversations. Many donors don’t realize they can use their DAF for a gift; they default to a credit-card donation that’s tax-inefficient for them.

2. Provide DAF-friendly tools. A “Give from your DAF” widget or DAFpay integration on your donate page reduces friction.

3. Thank DAF gifts well. When a gift arrives from Fidelity Charitable or Schwab Charitable, ask the sponsor to share the donor’s name with you (usually they do unless the donor opted for anonymity), then thank the donor, not the sponsor.

4. Talk about DAFs with donors directly. A board member or staff fundraiser asking “Have you considered using your DAF?” can shift a small annual gift into a much larger one.

5. Make appreciated-asset gifts easy. DAF donors often have appreciated stock. Be set up to receive it.

6. Steward DAF donors as donors. Once you know who’s behind a DAF gift, treat them like any other major donor, see grant reporting and stewardship for principles that translate.

Where DAFs Fit in Your Strategy

DAF cultivation belongs in your individual-giving plan more than in your grants plan, but it touches both. Your 12-month grant strategy should include:

Foundation grants (private and public, see private vs. public foundations)
Community foundation grants (which often involve DAFs, see community foundation grants)
Corporate giving (see corporate giving programs)
Federal, state, and local government grants (see federal vs. foundation vs. state grants)
DAF-aware individual giving, the layer many organizations miss

How Grantboost Helps With Foundation and DAF Work

Grantboost focuses on the grantmaking landscape, foundations, government, corporate giving. For the foundation side of DAF work, Grantboost surfaces opportunities at community foundations, private foundations, and corporate funders continuously, drafting proposals in your organization’s voice (see training AI on your past proposals).

That frees your team to focus its individual-donor time, including DAF cultivation, on the kind of personal relationships that DAF money actually responds to.

Try Grantboost free and free up time for the donor work that compounds.

Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Grants: How They Work and How to Win Them