The numbers are in for charitable giving in 2024, with DAFgiving360, one of the largest national providers of donor-advised fund (DAF) accounts and related philanthropic resources, reporting that its donors gave more than $7.7 billion to charity last year. That’s a 25% ($1.5 billion) increase compared to 2023. Donors supported nearly 151,000 charities through more than 1.3 million grants from their DAF accounts. 

Contributions to DAFs are available for immediate charitable use, allowing donors to give in real-time by recommending grants to charities of their choice, for example, to support those affected by natural disasters or other humanitarian crises. DAFgiving360 reported that this flexibility in giving allowed donors to grant over $175 million towards disaster relief last year, including the fires in California and the hurricanes in the Southeast. The organization also reported that 83% of donors made gifts within their home state. With the devasting Los Angeles fires earlier this year, we’ll likely continue to see donors sprint to action in 2025, with targeted giving to help support those impacted by such crises, both locally and on a larger scale.

While some donors gave to specific causes and initiatives, DAFgiving360 found that 72% of grant recommendations didn’t specify a purpose, empowering organizations to quickly deploy the grants where needed most.

Why DAFs?

DAFs continue to be popular vehicles to support both immediate and long-term charitable goals, allowing donors to maximize their impact on causes that matter most to them. Part of DAFs’ appeal is that donors are eligible for a tax deduction the same calendar year they establish a DAF. Furthermore, DAFs allow donors to contribute non-cash assets, such as stocks, real estate and art. Non-cash assets that are held for more than one year can offer additional tax advantages (as opposed to selling the assets and paying capital gains tax to donate the cash proceeds). Additionally, assets contributed to a DAF account can be invested for tax-free potential growth.

This approach unlocks additional funding for charity and, according to DAFgiving360, may increase the amount available for grants to charity by as much as 20%. In 2024, 64% of contributions to DAFgiving360 were in the form of non-cash assets.