Donor Advised Fund (DAF)
What is a DAF?
A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is a simple vehicle established by a donor to efficiently give gifts to nonprofits while minimizing tax impact. Your funds can be invested for tax-free growth and you can recommend charitable grant recipients on your timeline.
What Are the Top 5 Benefits of a DAF?
1. TAX-Free Growth
If you choose to have your Fund invested at CTCF, any gains achieved by the Fund are tax-free growth that you can use to further support charitable organizations. *Past returns are no guarantee of future performance.
2. Double your giving
A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) at CTCF qualifies as a recipient of employer charitable matching programs. Check with your employer to determine if they have a charitable matching program and how much they match annually.
3. Gifts that keep on giving
In lieu of birthday, anniversary or holiday gifts, invite family and friends to donate to your Fund, and then experience the joy of giving to organizations that address the community needs most meaningful to you!
4. Avoid Capital Gains tax
If you have proceeds from a stock sale that you are planning to donate, be sure to consider gifting the stock directly to your Fund. Instead of selling the stock, paying taxes and then being left with a smaller amount to donate, verify how long you have owned the stock. When you gift the stock directly to your Fund, you may not have to pay capital gains tax if you have owned the stock longer than one year or ordinary tax if less than one year.
5. Separate Tax Planning from Charitable planning
Essentially, a DAF allows you to separate your TAX planning from your CHARITABLE planning. When you make a donation to your DAF, you take the tax deduction immediately, but you do not have to make equivalent distributions from your Fund in that calendar year. You can "bunch" or "bundle" your donations to maximize itemized deductions in year one, while planning to distribute the dollars to nonprofit organizations in subsequent years when you could take the standard deduction.
How do I establish a DAF?
Complete our Fund Agreement. The Fund Agreement outlines the parameters of your Fund, and areas such as the following are addressed:
- Create a name for your Fund.
- Choose the primary advisors that will have the authority to make distributions from the Fund.
- Decide whether to invest or not.
To receive a copy of the Fund Agreement or for more information about a Donor Advised Fund, call 512-863-4186 or email office@chisholm-trail.org.