DAFgiving360 Donors Increase Giving to $8.9 Billion in Grants to Charities During Fiscal Year 2025

Donors demonstrated generosity by granting a daily average of more than $24 million to charities

Five trends emerge and reveal donor-advised fund (DAF) users make charitable giving a year-round, values-driven priority

DAFgiving360™, one of the largest national providers of donor-advised fund (DAF) accounts and related philanthropic resources, reports that donors granted nearly $8.9 billion to support charitable organizations in fiscal year 2025 (ending June 30, 2025), exceeding the previous year's granting amount by more than 34%. Beyond the topline figures, DAFgiving360 donor behaviors reveal five key trends that demonstrate their commitment to strategic, intentional, and consistent giving:

  1. Giving knows no season—donors grant year-round
  2. Disaster relief needs draw ongoing support
  3. Donors expand generosity while staying rooted in community
  4. Donors put investments to work to increase impact
  5. Advisor relationships drive strategic giving

“Our donors continue to show that generosity remains a top priority, and that their DAF accounts are effective tools to help them achieve their charitable giving goals,” said Julie Sunwoo, President of DAFgiving360. “This year’s record giving reflects their unwavering commitment to supporting charities and causes that matter to them, granting not only in moments of crisis but also in response to broader needs across the philanthropic landscape. Our DAFgiving360 team is proud to support that commitment and will continue to make our platform an easy and efficient way for people to give.”

Giving knows no season

In fiscal year 2025, DAFgiving360 donors supported 155,000 charities through 1.4 million grants, a 19% increase in grants year over year. For every contribution made to DAFgiving360, 12 grants were made to charity. Throughout the year, donors granted to charity at a pace averaging more than $24 million per day.

While year-end giving is still impactful – on Giving Tuesday in December 2024, DAFgiving360 donors recommended 22,000 grants representing over $69 million to charity in one day – DAFgiving360 donor education efforts and the development of tools and resources, including the Giving with Impact podcast and webinar series, have helped make effective giving an intentional year-round exercise.

Because contributions to DAFs are set aside for charitable use, donors have the flexibility to provide ongoing support at any time to their favorite charities. Over the last 12 months, 38% of grants were scheduled as recurring to provide continual support for charities.

Disaster relief needs draw ongoing support

Prolific natural disasters prompted exceptionally generous and incremental support from DAFgiving360 donors last year, with over $148 million distributed for disaster relief efforts. Just weeks into fiscal year 2026, DAFgiving360 donors have already mobilized more than $4 million in grants to support relief and recovery efforts for Texas flood victims.

In the 2025 fiscal year, there was also a 20% year-over-year increase in the number of overall grants that did not specify a purpose, empowering nonprofits to quickly use the funds where needed most. Representing more than 70% of all grants, the flexibility of undesignated grants can be particularly helpful after disasters.

“The response from our donors in reaction to more frequent and severe disasters is inspiring. We see donors taking immediate action to support those impacted within hours of major events, and the support does not stop when the news cycle ends,” said Fred Kaynor, Managing Director of Relationship Management, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships at DAFgiving360. “Our DAF solution helps donors efficiently deploy resources when the crises occur and allows them to set up automated, ongoing grants to support long-term recovery efforts.”

Donors expand generosity while staying rooted in community

Since DAFgiving360 was established in 1999, the organization has helped individuals and families across generations give more than $44 billion to over 280,000 charities. Each year, new 501(c)(3) charities receive support from donors, and over the last 12 months, donors granted to nearly 14,000 more charities than the previous year. During the latest fiscal year, one out of every seven charities supported was an organization DAFgiving360 donors had not previously supported.

As philanthropy expands, DAFgiving360 donors continue to prioritize causes close to home, with 78% of all donors granting within their own state last year, resulting in charitable support across all 50 states.

Donors put investments to work to increase impact

A majority of donors look for opportunities across their financial portfolios and plans to make the biggest impact on the causes they support. Sixty-three percent of contributions to DAFgiving360 in fiscal year 2025 were in the form of non-cash assets, such as stocks, real estate, or private business interests. Donations of appreciated, long-term held assets can unlock additional funds for charity by potentially eliminating the capital gains tax donors would incur if they sold the assets and donated the cash proceeds thereafter, which may increase the amount available for grants to charity by as much as 20%.

Additionally, assets contributed to a DAF account can be invested for potential growth that’s tax-free, including in socially responsible investment pools and low-cost index pools. Investment growth in fiscal year 2025 created an additional $4 billion available for grants to charity.

Advisor relationships drive strategic giving

DAFgiving360 donors work with over 4,700 financial advisors, a 20% increase over the previous fiscal year. Seventy eight percent of assets in DAF accounts were associated with an advisor.

During economic and market volatility at the start of 2025, many donors worked with advisors on strategies such as bunching gifts to meet charitable goals. According to Schwab’s 2025 RIA Benchmarking Study, 86% of advisor firms offer charitable planning. Advisors are actively integrating charitable planning and DAFs as priorities in their practices given the increasing charitable intentions of clients.

“More than 70% of DAFgiving360 donors say they give more because of their DAF account,” continued Sunwoo. “DAFs encourage strategic planning, tax-smart decisions, and generous behaviors that lead to a bigger impact on donors’ favorite charities.”

About DAFgiving360

DAFgiving360™ is an independent 501(c)(3) public charity with a mission to increase charitable giving in the U.S. DAFgiving360 does this by providing a tax-smart and simple giving solution of a donor-advised fund (DAF) account to donors and financial advisors. Since our founding in 1999 as a 501(c)(3) public charity, DAFgiving360 donors have recommended over $44 billion in grants to more than 280,000 charities. Visit dafgiving360.org to learn more.

DAFgiving360™ is the name used for the combined programs and services of Donor Advised Charitable Giving, Inc., an independent nonprofit organization which has entered into service agreements with certain subsidiaries of The Charles Schwab Corporation. DAFgiving360 is a tax-exempt public charity as described in Sections 501(c)(3), 509(a)(1), and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions made to DAFgiving360 are considered an irrevocable gift and are not refundable. Once contributed, DAFgiving360 has exclusive legal control over the contributed assets.

A donor's ability to claim itemized deductions is subject to a variety of limitations depending on the donor's specific tax situation.

Contributions of certain real estate, private equity, or other illiquid assets may be accepted via a charitable intermediary, with proceeds transferred to a donor-advised fund (DAF) account upon liquidation. Call DAFgiving360 for more information at 800-746-6216.

Market fluctuations may cause the value of investment fund shares held in a donor-advised fund (DAF) account to be worth more or less than the value of the original contribution to the funds.

DAFgiving360 does not provide legal or tax advice. Please consult a qualified legal or tax advisor where such advice is necessary or appropriate.

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