From the Front Lines: What Philanthropic Advisors Know That the Field Should Hear

Speakers

• Alisha Fernandez Miranda, Author and Chair, I.G. Advisors

• Alex Neckles, Managing Director, Strategy, Anonymous Philanthropy LLC

• Mollie Bunis, Managing Director, Philanthropic Services, Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd.

• Courtney Joyner Gage, Partner, Sorensen Impact

This panel of philanthropic advisors talked openly about some of the challenges they see in the field: donor engagement, trust, family dynamics, measuring impact, the role of advisors, and what happens after someone actually establishes a charitable vehicle.

Each panelist brought a unique perspective that enriched the conversation. Philanthropic advising often requires working with financial advisors on the how of charitable planning: when a donor-advised fund might make sense, how philanthropy can fit into a liquidity event or what giving vehicle may best support a client’s broader financial goals. This discussion highlighted that once the structure is in place, another conversation begins.

The vehicle can help solve the “how.” It can’t answer the “why.”

DAFs are now a significant part of the philanthropic landscape. The DAF Research Collaborative’s Annual DAF Report, which studied six focus groups and a survey of 669 national financial advisors, reported 3.59 million DAF accounts in the U.S., with approximately $327.9 billion in assets and $64.6 billion granted to charities in fiscal year 2024. While the numbers are impressive, there is are people behind every one of those accounts. What do they care about? What experiences shaped the causes they support? Do they want their children involved? Do they want to measure results closely, take risks on new ideas, or simply support organizations they already love?

One of the panelists provided this analogy: creating a DAF without helping someone think about what comes next can be like telling them they can build their dream house and then handing them a gift card to a hardware store. They have the resources. But what are they going to build?

There is no single right way to practice philanthropy.

One donor may find fulfillment in data and measurable outcomes. Another may want to walk through a nonprofit, meet the people doing the work and see the impact firsthand. Someone else may care most about bringing children or grandchildren into the experience.Some donors may not want philanthropy to become another complicated project at all. They know which organizations matter to them, and they simply want an efficient way to support them—an important reminder for all of us in this work. We can spend so much time talking about what effective philanthropy is supposed to look like that we forget to ask the donor what meaningful philanthropy looks like to them.

Sometimes trying is success. A perfect philanthropic mission statement or a five-year grantmaking strategy isn’t a requirement to get started. Giving can evolve. People learn through doing. Interests change. Families have conversations they may never have had otherwise.

Philanthropy belongs in the broader financial-planning conversation.

It shouldn’t suddenly appear in November or December as a separate year-end topic.

A business sale, IPO, inheritance, concentrated stock position, estate-planning discussion or other significant financial event can all create a natural opportunity to ask a very simple question: “Is philanthropy something we should be considering as part of this?”

Advisors don’t need to know the answer before asking the questions. The DAF Research Collaborative revealed there is still opportunity to strengthen client conversations about giving. The advisor’s role isn’t to solve everything in the first meeting. Sometimes the job is simply to open the door.

Good philanthropic planning is collaborative.

No one person needs to know everything. The financial advisor understands the client’s broader financial picture. An attorney or tax professional brings another perspective. A charitable strategist can help think through structures and giving opportunities. Nonprofit professionals understand the realities and needs of the communities they serve. Philanthropic advisors may help donors go deeper into mission, grantmaking or impact.

Those roles don’t have to compete with one another. In many cases, the best thing advisors can do is recognize when another perspective would make the conversation better.

The panelists discussed what our field could do better: building trust by listening before prescribing, improving the donor experience, helping charitable dollars move into communities, making technology easier, and being more honest about what impact really looks like. These are opportunities to bring philanthropy into planning conversations earlier and build stronger partnerships across the people and organizations involved in someone’s charitable life.

The discussion served as a reminder that the real work is still human: helping someone understand what they care about, what they want their resources to accomplish, and what generosity is going to mean in their own life. Money is personal and giving is deeply personal. Conversations about legacy, children, values and what someone wants their wealth to accomplish can bring up questions that have very little to do with the mechanics of a DAF.

The DAF matters. The tax strategy matters. The infrastructure matters, but they are ultimately tools.