Donor-advised fund assets top $250 billion, but report says gifts in and out of the funds are down

Chronicle of Philanthropy

Total contributions to donor-advised funds dropped 21.7% in 2023, while grants made to charities from those funds declined 1.4%, according to a new report by the National Philanthropic Trust. The 2024 DAF Report looked at the DAF landscape using data for the 2023 fiscal year. While contributions to and grants awarded from DAFs were both down, assets held within the funds grew 9.9% to $251.5 billion, according to the report. Critics of donor-advised funds point to the report data as evidence that wealthy donors are “warehousing” money in the funds to get tax breaks but not doling out the money to struggling charities.