New Report From National Philanthropic Trust Reveals Positive News for Donor-advised Funds

JENKINTOWN, Pa., Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) found that donor-advised funds (DAFs), already the most popular charitable giving vehicle, continued to grow in contributions, assets, and grantmaking. 

NPT's report also expanded on the key finding of the long-awaited and recently released United States Department of Treasury's "Report to Congress on Supporting Organizations and Donor Advised Funds," including that payout rates for DAFs are substantially higher than that of private foundations.  

"Our report confirms what many charitable experts have long known: philanthropists are attracted to the flexibility of DAFs," said Eileen Heisman, President and CEO of NPT. "The Treasury Department's data mirrors what we've found over the years. Donors increasingly recognize the unique advantages of DAFs, including the ability to contribute a wider range of assets to support charitable causes during their lifetime and beyond."

NPT's 2011 Donor-Advised Fund Report is a unique, annual compilation and analysis of 478 charitable organizations that sponsor donor-advised funds. These organizations include national charities, community foundations and other sponsoring charities.  Detailed analysis of the report is available on NPT's blog, The Philanthropist. 

"We found that contributions to DAFs are closely related to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) with a lag time of one year," noted Heisman. "When the DJIA fell between 2007 and 2008, for example, contributions to DAFs fell a year later.  As the DJIA rose from 2008 to 2009, DAF contributions followed suit between 2009 and 2010. It is encouraging to note the DJIA's recent upward trajectory suggests continued growth for DAFs in 2012."

Key findings of NPT's 2011 Donor-Advised Fund Report include:

• In 2010, DAFs experienced growth in total assets under management to nearly $30 billion. This figure approaches the pre-recession high of $30.2 billion.
• Contributions to DAFs increased to $7.77 billion, a 25.5 percent increase after a steep drop-off in 2009.
• Grantmaking from DAFs grew by $80 million and exceeded $6.1 billion. This marks the third consecutive year with such high levels of grantmaking.

Complete report and images are available upon request.

About National Philanthropic Trust

National Philanthropic Trust is an independent, nationally-recognized charity whose mission is to increase charitable giving in society. Founded in 1996, NPT has been among the 50 fastest growing charities since 2003, having raised more than $2.5 billion in charitable assets and making over 55,000 grants to U.S. and international charities.  www.NPTrust.org

SOURCE National Philanthropic Trust