Cultivating Relationships With Donors Who Give Through Donor-Advised Funds
Beyond the Mystery Gift: Strategies to Turn DAF Gifts Into Lasting Donor Relationships
Last week, we talked about what high-net-worth donors want from a philanthropic relationship. This week, I want to zoom back in on a subset of that population: donors who give primarily or exclusively through donor-advised funds (DAFs).
DAF donors are not just major donors with a different payment method. They have distinct giving behaviors and particular dynamics that shape how cultivation works. Understanding those dynamics makes you a better partner—and a more effective fundraiser.
Big Sky in Farm Country — Park River, North Dakota © Tonya Hennessey
Who DAF Donors Are
Donors who use DAFs tend to be strategically minded about their philanthropy. Opening a DAF—making an irrevocable contribution to a charitable account with no immediate grant requirement—is a deliberate planning decision. These are not impulsive givers.
Research from Candid and the DAF Research Collaborative shows that DAF donors give more frequently, more consistently, and at higher levels than comparable donors who give directly. Donors who switch to DAFs increase their giving by an average of 67% in the year they open the account and give an average of 4.2 times per year.
A DAF donor is often among your most valuable long-term relationships.
The Identification Challenge—and How to Solve It
When a gift arrives from Fidelity Charitable or a community foundation, you may not know who sent it. Here are some core strategies for identifying DAF donors:
Flag all gifts from known sponsoring organizations in your CRM and build a report of those gifts over the past five years, sorted by amount. Cross-reference this report with your known major donors. Check if anyone is giving both directly and through a DAF; they may be consolidating into the DAF over time.
In donor cultivation conversations, ask: “Do you use a donor-advised fund for any of your charitable giving? Some of our donors find it helpful for us to know, so we can make sure you have what you need.” This opens the door without pressure.
Cultivation Language That Works
Lead with impact, not mechanics. A DAF donor already knows how their fund works—they don’t need you to explain it back to them. What they want, like all major donors, is to know their giving is making a tangible difference.
Be specific about opportunities to fund. “We’re hoping to find a donor who wants to fund the wetlands restoration pilot—$40,000 over two years would cover the full cost.” This gives a DAF donor something concrete to recommend to their fund. As a rule, vague asks produce vague responses.
How can a donor know what level of funding you really need and what your organization wants to fund unless you communicate it?
Make the DAF giving logistics invisible. Your EIN and grant instructions should be easy to find, but not the centerpiece of your communication. The relationship is the centerpiece. The mechanics are the plumbing.
Recurring DAF Grants: The Relationship Deepener
One of the most significant recent trends in DAF giving is recurring grant recommendations. According to the DAF Research Collaborative’s 2025 report, approximately 40% of DAF distributions are now recurring.
These donors have set up standing annual, quarterly, or monthly grant recommendations to the organizations they care most about. This is the DAF equivalent of a major donor pledge, but it’s set on auto-pay.
If you have a strong relationship with a DAF donor, ask whether they’d consider setting up a recurring grant recommendation. Frame it as both a convenience (“many of our DAF donors find it simplifies their annual planning”) and a partnership (“it helps us plan our programs with more certainty, delivering more impact”).
For donors who are genuinely committed to your mission, this ask is often welcomed.
Stewardship That Keeps the Relationship Alive
For anonymous DAF donors whose identity you don’t know, make your organization so visible and so clearly impact-driven that when they decide who to include in next year’s grant recommendations, you’re top of mind. For identified DAF donors, stewardship should be indistinguishable from your best major donor stewardship: personal thank-yous, impact updates, invitations to deepen engagement. The vehicle doesn’t determine the relationship tier. The relationship does.
This Thursday in Premium: We’ll dive into advanced DAF strategy— your DAF donor identification system, cultivation timelines, and how to raise the DAF conversation at the right moment.