A study of more than 30,000 observable instances of use of donor-advised funds (DAFs) at 30 nonprofits shows that DAF gifts tended to be significantly larger than non-DAF gifts during 2024. If fact, the data shows DAF gifts might be as much as 26 times larger.
The ratio between DAF and non-DAF gift size becomes less dramatic when comparing median gift sizes. In 2024, the median DAF gift was 12 times larger than the median non-DAF gift among study participants.
The data is in the new report “DAF Fundraising Report 2025,” researched and presented by fundraising tech platform Chariot in Brooklyn, New York and fundraising agency K2D Strategies in Arlington, Virginia. The report was based on 417,000 DAF transactions totaling $1.15 billion.
The study included aggregated data on 30,349 unique instances of what researchers called “DAF Donor Conversion.” These are instances where a donor gave to a participating nonprofit 2020 through 2023 via something other than a DAF (e.g. credit card), and in a subsequent year made their first DAF gift to the same organization.
When it came to gifts size, the data shows DAF donations averaged $2,751 while non-DAF gifts were $105.
“With a larger data set this year we were not only able to validate some of the trends first reported in the 2024 report but even better, go deeper into a few data points,” said Karin Kirchoff, president of K2D Strategies. “The data validates suspicions that DAF giving is commonly happening far below typical major gift thresholds and presents dramatic opportunities to enhance marketing strategy and data management processes that will lead to better donor experiences and hopefully more DAF revenue for nonprofits to deliver on their missions,” she said.
Of the DAF donor “converts,” 85% either increased their giving to that same organization or maintained their giving level.
The net annual value of DAF donor conversion showed an additional $44 million attributable to DAF donor conversion 2021 – 2024. This only represents identifiable instances of conversion. Due to data challenges this is likely underreported, according to the report authors. It does not include donors that used a DAF for their first gift to an organization, or existing DAF donors that increased support, according to the researchers.
DAF revenue growth is drastically outpacing non-DAF revenue growth across study participants. Particularly during the past three years, organizations had an acceleration in DAF giving and a decline in non-DAF giving.
By 2024, DAF revenue was playing an important role in fundraising efforts among study participants:
* More than 80% of participants had DAF revenue growth, while more than 50% of participants had non-DAF revenue decline.
* More than half of the organizations that saw declining non-DAF revenue realized DAF revenue growth making up for some of that decline.
* Two participants had DAF revenue growth more than offset declines in non-DAF revenue decline.
“There’s so much confusion and persistent myths around DAF giving, so robust data insights on the real nonprofit experience with Donor Advised Funds is an absolutely vital resource,” said Mitch Stein, head of Strategy at Chariot. “This year’s report not only provides deeper analysis on key questions around DAF donor behavior, we also were able to feature a wide range of specific tactics, advice and case studies from many of our participating nonprofits.”
Access to the full report is available here … https://www.givechariot.com/daf-fundraising-report-2025
