Almost 2 million people are now using donor advised funds (DAFs) for their charitable giving. To better understand how individuals think about and use DAFs as part of their household giving, the DAFRC collected data from over 2,100 DAF donors across the nation. This report provides valuable insights on DAF donor demographics, giving strategies, and motivations, and sheds light on the patterns and variations in DAF activity observed in the National Study.

There is considerable variation between DAF sponsors. To gain deeper insight into DAF sponsors’ perceptions, policies, and practices, the DAFRC gathered data from 128 DAF sponsor managers nationwide. This report highlights information about DAF sponsors’ strategies, operational capacity, philanthropic advising, internal policy execution, and marketing.

This national study examines the adoption of Community-Centric Fundraising (CCF) practices across U.S. nonprofits. CCF is a set of principles developed by people of color to align fundraising with movements for race, equity, and social justice. Based on survey responses from hundreds of organizations and in-depth interviews with fundraising professionals, the research revealed both promising developments and persistent challenges in transforming established fundraising approaches. This research was made possible with support from the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy and the William “Bill” Levis Fundraising Research Grant.

The ninth edition of our annual "11 Trends in Philanthropy" report shares a familiar wealth of examples, data, quotes, and research publications that can help us all anticipate the vectors of change. This year’s report explores many of these issues and others — attempting to look beyond the pendulum swing and into a future where innovations in philanthropy and community-building may yet achieve the transformations we all hope to see. This work was supported by the generous donors of the Lubbers Philanthropy Innovation Fund at the Johnson Center.

Drawing on research covered in "In Abundance: An Analysis of the Thriving Landscape of Collective Giving in the U.S.," this report delves deeper into the various types of collective giving groups, identifying seven group archetypes based on three core dimensions: membership characteristics, giving focus, and organizational processes. This research, produced by Isis Krause of Philanthropy Together and W.K. Kellogg Community Philanthropy Chair Dr. Michael Layton, was generously supported by Fidelity Charitable.

Latin America has seen important progress in developing philanthropic infrastructure over the past 20 years — community foundations, especially, are channeling and growing local engagement. However, research to understand and strengthen the bonds among philanthropic actors has remained sparse. New research from W.K. Kellogg Community Philanthropy Chair Dr. Michael Layton and Founding Frey Foundation Chair for Family Philanthropy Dr. Michael Moody was supported by the C.S. Mott Foundation.

Este informe comparte una investigación pionera sobre la conexión entre la filantropía comunitaria y familiar en México. Basado en más de 50 entrevistas con filántropos, líderes del sector y expertos, el informe proporciona nuevas perspectivas sobre la práctica de la filantropía en México, ofrece cinco estudios de caso — incluyendo cuatro fundaciones comunitarias y una red emergente de donantes — e identifica cinco oportunidades para fortalecer la conexión entre las fundaciones comunitarias de México y sus familias generosas.

Between 2017 and 2023, nearly 4,000 collective giving groups mobilized approximately 370,000 philanthropists to donate more than $3.1 billion - representing over 140% growth in five years. This research was conducted by W.K. Kellogg Community Philanthropy Chair Dr. Michael Layton and research partner Dr. Adriana Loson-Ceballos of Colmena Consulting, in partnership with Philanthropy Together. The research was generously supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Lodestar Foundation, and the Gates Foundation.

For this study, the Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (DAFRC) — co-led by the Johnson Center — collected a dataset representing 111 DAF programs, covering nine years of activity from more than 50,000 DAF accounts, with over 600,000 inbound contributions and more than 2.25 million outbound grants. The research shared here provided groundbreaking information for organizations and policymakers at a scale and depth never previously available. This research was generously supported by the Gates Foundation.