June 27, 2025
Meet the Donor-Advised Funds That Are Meeting the Moment
Good practices are out there, but these practices need to be the rule, not the exception.
When have nonprofits been on thinner ice than today? Nonprofits are scrounging for donations, losing federal funding, and struggling to survive in dangerous political conditions.
Sometimes lost in the conversation are intermediaries like private foundations and donor-advised funds (DAFs). All told, these grantmaking groups steward an estimated $1.7 trillion in assets. Alas, too many of them treat federal annual giving requirements as ceilings not floors, leaving money piling up and nonprofits in the lurch.
But this tendency is, fortunately, not universal—and some foundations and DAFs are stepping up. These field leaders are creating a path that others can follow.
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Further reading
Articles | Feb 12, 2026
A Worker-Led Alternative to Billionaire-Owned News in DC
A Q&A with two founders of the 51st, a worker-led nonprofit newsroom launched after the closure of the beloved local outlet DCist.
Articles | Feb 12, 2026
ICE Out of Target: Why a Familiar Store Is at the Center of Nationwide Protests
Across the country, people are beginning to ask a hard question: what does it mean to shop at a company that is cooperating with ICE and Border Patrol?
Articles | Feb 10, 2026
Donor-Advised Funds and Foundations Could Eat Up Half of U.S. Individual Gifts by 2028
Charities depend more than ever on donations from our country’s wealthiest donors. Their gifts aren't directly reaching working charities.
