When a DAF Sends Its First Gift: A Nonprofit’s Perspective

For advisors, donors, family offices, and philanthropic consultants, donor-advised funds (DAFs) are familiar and efficient tools. For nonprofits—especially for fundraisers responsible for identifying, qualifying, and cultivating donor relationships—the first-ever gift from a DAF is something else entirely: a beautifully wrapped present with no clear tag.

Who sent it? Why now? What does this gift signal?

The first DAF grant is not just a transaction. It is an invitation to a relationship—even if the sender doesn’t realize it.

This article offers one perspective from the nonprofit side of the philanthropic ecosystem. There are many valid viewpoints; this reflects the lived experience of one frontline fundraiser and his colleagues who are navigating an increasingly DAF-shaped philanthropic landscape.

Why the First DAF Gift Feels Like Opening a Mystery Box

When a nonprofit receives its first-ever gift from a DAF, it often knows very little beyond the sponsoring organization’s name and the grant amount. The questions pile up quickly:

• Who is the donor behind this gift?

• Is this a one-time allocation or the beginning of a pattern?

• What inspired the donor to send this support now?

• Is the donor hoping to remain anonymous—or are they simply unaware that the nonprofit sees only limited information?

For fundraisers, this moment is accompanied by genuine curiosity. Philanthropy is fundamentally relational, and a DAF gift signals that someone, somewhere, cares—and yet, they don’t know who.

What Nonprofits Want to Know

The first gift from a DAF is the donor knocking—sometimes quietly—on the door of a potential long-term relationship with a nonprofit. Advisors who recommend DAFs should understand what comes to mind for nonprofits.

1. Why Did the Donor Establish the DAF?

Donor motivations for establishing a DAF vary widely. Understanding the “why” behind a DAF matters because it helps nonprofits engage appropriately—respecting preferences, timing, and the donor’s philanthropic philosophy.

2. Who from the Donor’s Family Is Involved?

DAFs increasingly serve as multigenerational platforms. When fundraisers learn a DAF is a family endeavor, they often adjust engagement strategies accordingly—inviting multiple generations into mission conversations, offering age-appropriate involvement opportunities, and providing clarity about long-term impact.

3. What Are the Donor’s Short and Long-Term Goals?

Nonprofits want to know what donors want to accomplish with their philanthropy. Understanding the donor’s goals helps fundraisers align communication and stewardship to honor the donor’s intentions. For example, when an urgent need arose that required fast mobilization of resources, it was the years of building relationships with donors and awareness of their DAF assets and goals that allowed the National Park Foundation (NPF) and its partners at the Grand Teton National Park Foundation (GTNPF) to raise $40 million dollars in a matter of months. By engaging donors with DAFs and inviting immediate philanthropic investments, NPF and GTNPF were able to quickly respond.

4. Why This Sponsoring Organization?

Donors often believe all DAF sponsors offer the same services. Each DAF sponsor operates differently, and those differences shape donor expectations and nonprofit interactions. The truth is simple: Find one DAF sponsor, and you’ve found one DAF sponsor.

The choice of DAF sponsor offers subtle clues about the donor’s motivation and understanding of the DAF giving process and services offered by DAF sponsors.

5. Are We Named as Charitable Beneficiary?

Donors who give consistently from their DAFs are often asked by fundraisers if their organizations are named as a charitable beneficiary and how they might work with the donor to explore their planning and charitable impact goals. 

This exploration not only opens a planned giving conversation to understand intentions and steward legacy commitments, but also gives nonprofits insights and data to inform broader campaign and stewardship strategy. 

6. How Will the Donor Use Their Growing DAF Assets?

When donors continue to contribute appreciated securities or complex assets, nonprofits notice the rapid growth of philanthropic capacity. 

Understanding the donor’s philanthropic rhythm helps nonprofits align the organization’s communication and personal engagement with the donor’s timing.

7. When a Family Foundation Suddenly Contributes to a DAF: What’s the Story?

More fundraisers are learning from annual private foundation tax filings (Form 990-PF) that long-time foundation donors have opened DAFs. This trend raises a discovery opportunity for nonprofits to understand how to better steward the relationship and offer a more engaging and fulfilling experience for the donor.

Implications for Advisors, Donors, and Family Offices

Advisors play a central role in shaping how nonprofits first encounter a donor-advised fund. When an advisor recommends a DAF, they are also—whether they realize it or not—initiating a new dynamic between the donor and the nonprofit community.

Advisors should prepare clients for:

• Nonprofits not connecting with the donor if the DAF gift was unintentionally sent as “anonymous.” This may be their preference, but depending on their level of education around DAFs, in most cases we’ve found that not to be true.

• Nonprofits reaching out with thoughtful questions.

• Opportunities for deeper alignment and impact.

• Conversations about legacy planning.

• Invitations for multigenerational engagement.

• Stewardship efforts designed to respect donor intentions.

The goal is to ensure that philanthropy becomes a meaningful, transparent, and values-aligned partnership between donors, their advisors, and the organizations they wish to support.

Not Just a Grant

DAFs have the potential to reshape—and often improve—the relationships between donors, their families, their advisors, and the nonprofits they support. But these relationships don’t flourish automatically. They require communication, clarity, and shared understanding.

When advisors recommend a DAF or when donors make consistent grants from one, they should expect that nonprofits and fundraisers will ask questions to build authentic, respectful, long-term relationships.

A DAF grant is never “just a grant.” For nonprofits, it is the start of a conversation and hopefully the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship.

Questions to Consider

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