Follow-up to Fishing for Big Fish –Donor-Advised Fund Donors

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Follow-up to Fishing for Big Fish –Donor-Advised Fund Donors

By Jack Doyle

“Thank you.”

“I did what you suggested.”

“We were doing it all wrong.”

“I’m thanking all my DAF donors now!”

These were the sentiments shared with me last week by a number of callers, all of whom attended my AFP session on Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Donors.

What were they talking about?

In the session, I emphasized that DAF grant checks come from charitable sponsors – public charities – not from your donors’ checking accounts.

The grant comes to you because your donors recommended that the DAF send you the money, but it was the charitable sponsor’s money. Here are the examples I used to demonstrate proper gift crediting and good donor stewardship practices.

In Amergent’s Portfolio database, Fidelity Charitable has its own record for recording its gifts.

1

 

I took note of the $25,000 largest gift.

2

 

The DAF grant is properly soft-credited to the donors who granted it, so they can be acknowledged and thanked, but NOT sent a tax-deductible receipt.

3

 

This is the proper big-picture donor record you should have for every DAF donor. Their cash gifts from their funds should be listed separately (for tax purposes, etc.) from their soft credits, which were gifts they influenced.

The people who called me were grateful because they discovered they had many DAF grantors whom they needed to acknowledge for years of generous giving.

It’s never too late to extend belated, honest and grateful appreciation. It’s the right thing to do and you are now more likely to receive additional consideration from these donors.

Click here to read my previous i-fund newsletter on this topic.

Download a copy of my presentation from the 2016 AFP International Fundraising Conference here.

Questions about DAF accounts or how we can help you?

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