Key Points

• A donor-advised fund, or DAF, is a popular charitable giving vehicle known for its flexibility and ease. 
• To establish one, a family, individual, or organization first makes an irrevocable contribution of their assets, including cash, publicly-traded securities, mutual funds, and/or real estate, to the DAF. 
• Once a DAF contribution is made, a family, individual, or organization is eligible for a current-year tax deduction, which may allow them to be more flexible and strategic about their giving decisions.
• Non-cash assets transferred into a DAF can be gifted without incurring capital gains taxes, allowing all of the proceeds to be given to the charities they believe are most impactful. 

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Soon, it’ll be that time of year again when I sit down to binge-watch one of the many made-for-TV versions of Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol.” Watching Ebenezer Scrooge evolve from a miser into a philanthropist gives me some serious warm, fuzzy feelings — I mean, who among us doesn’t want the best for every single one of the other 8 billion people living on Earth?

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Yet being charitable doesn’t mean that we need to toss aside our own financial opportunities. I chatted with Nick Flores, a managing director and guru of impact investing at Caprock, to get his take: 

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“Historically, most people have looked to philanthropy as the best, if not only way to advance a family’s values. But the good news is that in the last decade or so, the discipline has really grown up – it now enables people to do both – to advance their values and to generate a financial return. And hopefully we can also generate some quantifiable, measurable, durable, social and environmental benefits along the way.” 

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How does Flores help his clients align their wealth with their values? One way is by using a charitable structure called donor-advised funds, or DAFs. Read on to learn a little bit about DAFs, the tax benefits associated with the vehicle, and how you may want to help your clients think about giving.

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The Nitty-Gritty About DAFs

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A DAF is a popular charitable giving vehicle known for its flexibility and ease. To establish one, a family, individual, or organization first makes an irrevocable contribution (a gift that is complete and cannot be returned) of their assets, including cash, publicly-traded securities, mutual funds, and/or real estate, to the DAF. 

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These contributions are recorded as donations, which are reflected in the newly minted DAF account. Over time, these contributions can be allocated to the 501(c)(3) public charity of their choosing. And for people who want to involve their family in their giving, their kids or grandkids may participate in selecting charities that could serve as grantees. It’s helpful to know that DAFs aren’t subject to estate laws, which allow future generations to use the vehicle to be the gift that keeps giving.

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There’s an Immediate Potential Tax Benefit

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DAFs’ tax benefits impact more than just families.

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No matter if your client is a family, individual, or organization, once a DAF contribution is made, they are eligible for a current-year tax deduction, which may allow them to be more flexible and strategic about their giving decisions. They can either use the assets they’ve contributed to make grants to other public charities of their choice, or they may let them sit and grow over time — completely tax-free — allowing them to make even greater contributions in the future. 

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Non-cash assets transferred into a DAF can be gifted without incurring capital gains taxes, allowing all of the proceeds to be given to — and ultimately used by — the charities your clients believe are most impactful. 

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How to Think About Giving?

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What should your clients think about when determining which charities may be the best choice for their interests? At Ethic, we think it’s important to consider both the topic area you’re supporting and the charity itself.

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When we’re looking at topic areas for giving, we look at three factors:

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• Importance: What is the value of solving the problem the charity is addressing?
• Tractability: How hard is it to make an impact on this problem?
• Neglectedness: To what extent is this problem already well-funded?

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When we’re evaluating specific charities, we have three more considerations:

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• Right-sizing: Is the scope of a charity's operations too large (or small) for donations to have a high marginal impact?
• Administrative overhead: Have charity evaluation services identified glaring imbalances in administrative versus operational spending?
• Reporting and documentation: To what extent has the charity evaluated the impact of its projects?

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Yet one of the biggest considerations is to ensure their values are aligned with the organization of their choice. The most meaningful impact is the one made alongside others who share the same vision. 

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Flores told me, “I can’t imagine doing my job if I didn’t have the capability to enable clients to align their wealth with their values in a charitable structure that not only can further the social, environmental, and financial returns of that charitable pool of capital — but then the grant-making that follows — well, to me that’s why we all do this work.”

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Interested in helping your clients navigate a DAF that will create the most meaningful impact? Our Ethic team can help you assess investment opportunities while advising you on how to find the causes and needs that align with your unique charitable interests. Reach out to your relationship manager or welcome@ethic.com.  

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