Frequently asked questions

A donor-advised fund (DAF) account is a simple, tax-smart solution for supporting charitable organizations you care about. Once you open a DAF account with DAFgiving360™ and contribute cash, securities, or appreciated assets, you may be eligible for a current-year tax deduction and can be more strategic about your giving decisions.

Learn more about how a DAF account works.

DAFgiving360 offers two different types of accounts: core and professionally managed. The DAF account does not require a minimum initial contribution and donors can recommend investment of account assets among a selection of investment pools. For larger accounts (minimum $100,000 initial contribution and ongoing balance), the professionally managed account option enables donors to recommend an investment advisor to invest the account in a wider range of investments.

Learn more about investment options for both core and professionally managed accounts.

The basic cost structure of a DAF account consists of two parts: administrative fees and investment expenses.
 
In certain situations, DAFgiving360 may assess additional fees on individual accounts to cover special costs. These may include legal and professional costs, taxes, or transaction costs.

Learn more details about account fees in our Program Policies.

Learn more details about account fees online.

You can open a core account with no minimum initial contribution. The minimum amount needed for a professionally managed account is $100,000.

You can contribute both cash and non-cash assets held more than one year. The most common contributions are cash and appreciated unrestricted publicly traded securities, like stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and bonds. Appreciated non-cash assets—such as restricted or privately held stock, private equity, hedge funds, real estate, cryptocurrency, and tangible personal property—are accepted on a case-by-case basis. If you have questions regarding the contribution of these asset types, please contact DAFgiving360 at 800-746-6216.

Typically, accounts are opened, funded and ready for granting within a week of the receipt of the initial contribution. In some cases (during periods of high volume, if information provided on forms, funding, or granting instructions is incomplete or requires additional due diligence, and/or when assets are being transferred from a financial institution other than Charles Schwab), the process can take several weeks.

To avoid delays, we encourage you to plan your giving in advance – to DAFgiving360 and ultimately, to your recommended grant recipients. Many donors are inspired to establish DAF accounts as the calendar year or a charity’s fiscal year comes to a close, but planning in advance and giving throughout the year can help keep vital funds flowing consistently to charitable organizations, especially in times of economic uncertainty.

If you have a Schwab brokerage account, you can make contributions to your DAF account online, by selecting your DAF account from your list of accounts, and then selecting the “Contribute to My Account” option. If you want to make a contribution from a non-Schwab account, please use the Transfer of Assets form.

DAFgiving360 offers a variety of investment options depending on account type.

For core accounts, you may recommend an asset allocation among a selection of investment pools.

For professionally managed accounts, you may recommend a qualified investment advisor to invest account assets in a broad range of options outside of the investment pools, including stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds.

Not everyone is prepared to recommend an allocation when completing an application and this section may be left blank. If that happens, DAFgiving360 will allocate 100% of your contribution to the Money Market Pool. DAFgiving360 encourages you to actively participate in your DAF account allocations; you can recommend a reallocation of the account assets at any time on DAFgiving360 Client Center, on the Schwab Mobile app, or by using the Update Investment Pool Allocation form. 

Professionally managed accounts, which are available for accounts of $100,000 or more, allow you to recommend an investment advisor to manage assets outside of the investment pools. Your recommended advisor, if approved, may invest DAF account assets in individual equities, bonds, or mutual funds consistent with our investment policy and guidelines.

Your investment advisor will select an investment strategy and performance benchmark for your DAF account by considering your philanthropic goals, target return, risk tolerance, other special considerations, as well as DAFgiving360's investment guidelines. The investment strategy and benchmark established for your DAF account must comply with DAFgiving360 investment guidelines. 

To recommend a grant online, just log into your DAF account or use the Schwab Mobile app. Click on the “Grant to Charity” tab at the top and you can then recommend a new grant recipient or use the Grant Again options for a charity you’ve previously designated, which streamlines the process and saves you time.  

You can also recommend a grant by completing the Recommend a Grant form and returning it by fax or mail. Instructions are included on the form.

DAFgiving360 reviews and processes grant recommendations. Grant recommendations are generally approved by DAFgiving360 as long as the recipient organizations are classified by the IRS as 501(c)(3) public charities and the grants comply with guidelines specified in the Program Policies.

You can recommend grants of $50 or more to eligible U.S. tax-exempt organizations or to certain international organizations. DAFgiving360 allows unlimited and recurring grants from a DAF account to the extent that the account balance allows. 
 
While there is no minimum balance requirement, a DAF account cannot maintain a zero balance indefinitely. Please see the DAFgiving360 Program Policies for more details.

The time required to process and approve a grant recommendation varies depending on charity responsiveness, but on average, checks are mailed within seven to 10 business days. During peak activity periods, checks may take longer to issue. USPS delivery typically takes seven to 10 business days within the continental U.S.

If DAFgiving360 has not previously granted to the charity or its eligibility status has changed for some reason, the required due diligence may add time to the processing of the grant, depending on the type of the charity and how responsive the charity is. During peak activity periods (calendar and fiscal year-end), grants sometimes take longer to issue. Eligible international grants can take 8 to 10 weeks to process. 

A succession plan for your donor-advised fund (DAF) account typically is part of an overall estate planning strategy, and the plan’s primary objective is continuing donations with maximum charitable impact while reducing estate taxes. 
 

DAFgiving360 allows you to select any one or combination of three succession planning options: 

• Name family members or other individuals as successors on your account 
• Recommend charities as beneficiaries of final grants of your account balance 
• Recommend charities for recurring grants over a specific timeframe with the DAFgiving360 Legacy Program. (To be eligible for the DAFgiving360 Legacy Program, the account balance must be at least $100,000 for core accounts and $100,000 for professionally managed accounts once the program is activated.)

1. Whole or decimal percentages method

In your succession plan, you may allocate to successors (individuals) and/or charitable beneficiaries (organizations). For example, you may leave half of your account assets to your son or daughter to manage and the have the other half granted to the Red Cross. These allocations can be made in whole or decimal percentages, rounded to the hundredth place. The amounts must total 100%. For example, three successors, designated at 33.33%, 33.33%, and 33.34%. You may use this method alone or in combination with the fixed amount method described below.

2. Even split method

The even split method allows you to recommend distributinge funds evenly between your successors and any charitable beneficiaries you designate. For example, four successors/charitable beneficiaries, designated as 1/4^th each or seven successors/beneficiaries, designated as 1/7^th each. The distribution amount will appear as a fraction. You may use this method alone or in combination with the fixed amount method described below.

3. Fixed amount method

The fixed amount method allows you to recommend a fixed dollar amount and a percentage of the whole DAF account in the case the value of the DAF account drops below the fixed dollar amount, to be distributed to your successors and/or charitable beneficiaries. Another option is to combine with one of the methods described above. Any successor or charitable beneficiary with a designated fixed amount will receive funds resulting from this method first, and the remaining funds will be distributed per the secondary method elected. 
 
Please note: Any time the fixed amount method is selected, you must recommend allocatinge to at least one other successor and/or charitable beneficiary using either the even split or decimal percentages method for the remaining funds. This allocation is designated in case the fixed amount provided is not the actual balance of the account at the time the succession plan is enacted, i.e., whether there is enough money to meet the total amount allocated or the balance is higher than expected. 

Account holders all have the same privileges. Therefore, the surviving account holders will remain on the DAF account as account holders.

Once all account holders pass away, the succession plan, if any, is triggered, account users’ access is terminated, and the account is closed.