A donor-advised fund that launched last year is expanding its services so that not only donors but their family members can be involved in the philanthropic process.
Adam Nash, CEO and co-founder of the Daffy.org donor-advised fund, announced today that the fund was creating a platform and app called “Daffy for Families.” The service allows the fund creators to include up to 24 of their family members, or people they consider to be family, to be notified of a fund’s activities, Nash said in an interview.
“The goal is to prompt conversations among family members about philanthropy and about the family’s legacy,” he said.
The 24 people in the fund will be notified whenever the fund makes a donation to a cause. Those invited to share in the group will be able to create their own sub-accounts with a profile and make donation suggestions to the organizers..
Only the organizers will be able to actually contribute to the fund and receive the tax benefits it offers. These funds allow onetime or ongoing contributions for which charitable tax deductions are available. The funds’ assets are allowed to grow as the donors seed them and decide when to make contributions to specific charities or causes. The fund donors can contribute as much or as little as they want.
“We looked at the technology that was used by other organizations that allow this type of communication and applied it to our donor-advised fund, Daffy, which is an acronym for ‘Donor Advised Fund For You,’” Nash said. Daffy for Families is being debuted almost one year to the day from when Daffy originally launched on September 30, 2021.
Instead of charging members fees based on a percentage of assets in the fund, or fees on contributions or donations, Daffy charges a flat membership fee of $5 a month per family.
Advisors have been asking for this type of service on behalf of their clients, Nash said. “Donor-advised funds are a great product that [allow] philanthropists to donate appreciated assets and stocks without incurring tax liabilities,” he said.
“We are hoping this will create situations where family members will have more conversations about their philanthropic goals and the causes that are important to them. It has been shown that people who set goals give more,” Nash said.
“As any parent knows, when it comes to teaching values to your children, actions speak louder than words. It is one thing to tell your family how important giving is to you, but it is quite another thing for them to see you give,” Nash said in a statement announcing the new service.