National Study on Donor Advised Funds

Brittany Kienker, Ph.D., Principal and Owner of Kienker Consulting LLC is excited to announce her role as a lead researcher for the National Study on Donor Advised Funds and a co-Director of the Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (DAFRC). More information about the National Study and DAFRC are available at: https://www.dafresearchcollaborative.org/.

The full press release is included below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 10, 2022

CONTACT:           Tory Martin
616-331-9039
martinv@gvsu.edu

Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (DAFRC) Announces Major New National Study on DAF Activities, Seeks Research Participants

The Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (DAFRC) – composed of the top two donor advised fund research teams in the U.S. – will undertake a new nationwide study into the characteristics and activities of donor advised funds (DAFs).

The National Study on Donor Advised Funds, slated for release in 2023, will be the most comprehensive research project on DAFs to date. The study will combine data from DAF-sponsoring organizations from across the U.S. (including community foundations, national sponsors, and religiously-affiliated DAF sponsors) to provide the most accurate and generalizable reports on DAFs. The study aims to increase public understanding of:

• The wide range of ways that individuals and households use DAFs.

• DAF donor responses to changes in the giving environment (e.g., COVID-19, recession).

• Differences in DAF use among donor groups (e.g., high-net-worth donors, millennials).

The DAFRC is led by Dr. Dan Heist (Brigham Young University), Dr. Danielle Vance-McMullen (DePaul University), Jeff Williams (Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University), and Dr. Brittany Kienker (Kienker Consulting LLC), in partnership with the GivingTuesday Data Commons. A $750,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will support the work.

“The Gates Foundation is pleased to support a project that will bring greater transparency to a part of philanthropy that is not well understood,” said Robert Rosen, director, Philanthropic Partnerships at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “The National Donor Advised Fund Study will be a great example of what collaboration can achieve in our field – collaboration among researchers, networks, DAF hosts, and everyone stepping up to support this work.”

An advisory council of nationally renowned leaders in philanthropy and data science will provide critical partnership: Dirk Bird (Jewish Federation of North America), Elizabeth Boris (Urban Institute), Kyle Caldwell (Council of Michigan Foundations), Matthew L. Evans (United Philanthropy Forum), Gideon Taub (RenPSG), Eileen Heisman (National Philanthropic Trust), Jenn Holcolm (Council on Foundations), Laura Seaman (League of California Community Foundations), Steve Seleznow (Arizona Community Foundation), Stephen Sherman (Philanthropy Southeast), and Victoria Vrana (Gates Foundation).

“Donor advised funds are not monolithic; we want to dispel the narrative that all DAFs are the same. By looking at nationwide data and working to understand how these funds operate, we can empower practitioners, communities, and donors to use them to benefit all,” said Elizabeth Boris, institute fellow, Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute.

RECRUITING PARTICIPANTS

DAFRC is seeking both Philanthropy Serving Organizations (PSOs) to serve as outreach partners and DAF-sponsoring organizations that may be interested in sharing data for this study. Interested parties can view additional information online at DAF Research Collaborative (https://www.dafresearchcollaborative.org/).

BACKGROUND

Donor advised funds are the fastest-growing form of philanthropy in the U.S. In 2020, about 10.1% of all giving in the United States, or $48 billion, was donated to DAFs, according to the National Philanthropic Trust. These giving vehicles are changing the way that high-net-worth Americans give to charity. Philanthropic leaders and policymakers need reliable empirical data on DAFs to maximize the benefit of DAFs to nonprofits and society.

DAFRC’s lead researchers will build upon their previous groundbreaking work. In 2021, Williams and Kienker published a report commissioned by the Council of Michigan Foundations in partnership with the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy, using account-level data from most of the DAFs housed at Michigan’s community foundations. Vance-McMullen and Heist published a 2022 DAFRC report that included account-level data from 21 DAF sponsor organizations across the country. The new National Study on Donor Advised Funds will combine the depth of the Michigan study with the breadth of the last DAFRC report.

ABOUT THE DAFRC

Established by Dr. H. Daniel Heist and Dr. Danielle Vance-McMullen in 2019, the Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (DAFRC) enhances the donor advised fund evidence base by supporting research that contributes to public understanding of donor advised funds.

Dan Heist, Ph.D.

Dr. H. Daniel Heist is an assistant professor of Nonprofit Management and Social Impact at the George W. Romney Institute for Public Service and Ethics at Brigham Young University. He researches philanthropy, charitable giving, and volunteering. His nine years of professional fundraising experience inform his research. Dr. Heist is a leading expert on DAF research and co-founder of the DAFRC.

Brittany Kienker, Ph.D.

Dr. Brittany Kienker is principal and owner of Kienker Consulting LLC, with more than 15 years of experience in foundations, nonprofits, and higher education. She is a sought-after expert and advisor to foundations, philanthropy serving organizations, consultants, and researchers nationally. She previously co-authored the Council of Michigan Foundations/Johnson Center reports on foundation and DAF payout rates.

Danielle Vance-McMullen, Ph.D.

Dr. Danielle Vance-McMullen is an assistant professor of Public Policy and Nonprofit Management at DePaul University. She uses big data and behavioral experiments to research donor behavior and nonprofit competition in new charitable giving contexts. She is active in DAF research and is a co-founder of the DAFRC.

Jeff Williams, M.A., M.B.A.

Mr. Jeff Williams is the director of the Community Data and Research Lab at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. With expertise in operations, strategy, data analytics, and public policy, Williams is passionate about connecting data to people to action. Williams previously led and co-authored the Council of Michigan Foundations/Johnson Center reports on foundation and DAF payout rates.