DONOR-ADVISED FUNDS

  RJM Advisors LLC collects statistics from recent studies and reports on charitable giving in the U.S. Please refer to the footnotes for original sources.
​

  • There were 873,228 donor-advised fund accounts in 2019. 1
  • Donor-advised funds held $141.95 billion in assets in 2019. 1
  • Annual contributions into donor-advised funds were $38.81 billion in 2019. 1
  • Average donor-advised fund account size was $162,556 in 2019. 1
  • Grants from DAFs to qualified charities totaled an estimated $27.37 billion in 2019, representing an increase of 15.4 percent compared to 2018, which is revised to $23.72 billion. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2015 through 2019 was 13.0 percent. 1
  • Aggregate grant payout rates from DAFs for 2019 was 22.4 percent. This is higher than the revised payout rate of 21.2 percent for 2018. 1
  • Contributions to DAFs increased by 7.5 percent in 2019 to $38.81 billion compared to the prior year’s revised contribution total of $36.10 billion. The compound annual growth rate from 2015 through 2019 for contributions was 9.7 percent. 1
  • Charitable assets in DAFs grew from $122.18 billion in 2018 to $141.95 billion in 2019, a 16.2 percent increase. From 2015 through 2019, charitable assets rose by a compound annual growth rate of 10.4 percent. Growth includes contributions and investment yield less assets distributed in grants. 1
 
Donor Advised Funds at National Charities
  • In the NPT report analyzing DAF DAF data from 53 National Charities, these national charitable sponsors had a combined estimated 731,110 DAF accounts with total charitable assets of $87.23 billion in 2019. 1
  • The number of individual DAF accounts at National Charities grew to an estimated 731,110 in 2019 from a revised 594,806 in 2018, an increase of 22.9 percent. This one-year growth is slower than a compound annual growth rate of 47.3 percent from 2015 to 2019. 1
  • The total value of grants from DAFs at National Charities to qualified charities totaled $17.57 billion in 2019, an increase of 31.7 percent from the prior year. This increase is significantly ahead of the compound annual growth rate of 23.7 percent from 2015 to 2019. 1
  • Total contributions to DAFs at National Charities reached $27.51 billion in 2019. This represents a 15.5 percent increase over the prior year. This year’s rate of growth is slower than the compound annual growth rate of 22.1 percent from 2015 to 2019. 1
  • Total charitable assets in DAFs at National Charities were $87.23 billion in 2019, a 20.2 percent increase from $72.58 billion the prior year. The compound annual growth rate for charitable assets at National Charities from 2015 through 2019 was 22.6 percent. 1
  • The total payout rate from DAFs at National Charities was 24.2 percent in 2019, an increase from a 22.6 percent payout rate in 2018. 1

Donor Advised Funds at Community Foundation
  • In the NPT report analyzing DAF data from 607 Community Foundations, 83,185 DAF accounts were reported with charitable assets totaling $40.22 billion. 1
  • The number of individual DAF accounts at those Community Foundations was 83,185 in 2019 and 79,657 in 2018, an increase of 3.6 percent. The compound annual growth rate from 2015 through 2019 was 4.9 percent. 1
  • Total contributions to DAFs at Community Foundations were $6.73 billion in 2019, a 10.5 percent decrease over the prior year. 1
  • Charitable assets in DAFs at Community Foundations totaled $40.22 billion in 2019, an 11.0 percent increase from $36.23 billion in 2018. The compound annual growth rate for 2015 through 2019 was 9.6 percent. 1
  • The total payout from DAFs at Community Foundations was 16.4 percent in 2019, a slight increase from 16.2 percent in 2018. 1
 
 
1 National Philanthropic Trust – Donor Advised Fund Report 2020