Who Is Really Making the Gift?

By Kirsten Stevens, MBA, CFRE, CAP® | October 22, 2026

When a check arrives from Fidelity Charitable or the local community foundation, most of us know what to do with it.

We deposit it. We record it. We send a thank-you letter.

But who actually made that gift?

Every DAF grant has three parties behind it. The donor recommended the grant. The sponsoring organization approved it and sent it. And very often, a financial advisor helped the donor decide where the money should go.

Each of them plays a different role and they each matter to us.

The donor is the person we know. They may have attended our events, volunteered, or given to us directly for years. In many cases, the DAF grant is simply one of the ways that same person supports our work.

The sponsor is the organization that legally owns the funds. Once a donor contributes to a DAF, the donor gives up ownership and control of that money. The donor can recommend a grant but the sponsor makes the final decision.

The donor claimed the deduction when they contributed to the fund, so we don’t issue a tax receipt for a DAF grant. However, we can and should thank them with a personal letter when the sponsor shares their name and address. A DAF grant cannot pay for a donor's gala ticket, golf foursome, or dinner. And because a DAF grant cannot satisfy a donor's personal legal obligation, our acknowledgment letters should never describe it as payment on a pledge.

These IRS rules govern the sponsor’s grants, and nonprofits play a direct role in following them. We write the event invitations, the pledge forms, and the thank-you letters. If we don’t understand and apply these rules correctly, we put both the donor and our organization at risk.

The third party behind a DAF grant is the one I think nonprofits overlook most often: the financial advisor. Many DAF donors make their giving decisions alongside a wealth manager, an estate planner, or a CPA.

Advisors help donors decide when to give, what to give, and often where to give. When a client asks for a recommendation, an advisor will naturally point to organizations they know and trust. An advisor who has met our executive director, understands our programs, and has seen our financials is far more likely to mention us.

Most nonprofits put far more time into cultivating donors than into getting to know the advisors who guide them. Here are four questions every organization should be able to answer.

Do we know which of our donors give through a DAF? Do we know who their DAF sponsors are? Do we know who advises them? Does anyone on our staff know the gift planning team at our community foundation by name?

DAF grants also reach us through channels we may not recognize. Workplace giving portals, payment apps, and online giving platforms often route gifts through their own donor-advised funds. According to the first Annual DAF Report from the DAF Research Collaborative, about 2.85 million of the roughly 3.56 million DAF accounts in the country are held at these donation processor funds.

Gifts that arrive this way make stewardship harder. It is difficult to thank someone properly, or invite them to give again, when we are not sure who they are.

Here is an example of what the difference can look like.

Imagine two organizations, each with 400 active donors. At the first, DAF grants are recorded like any other check. At the second, the development director knows that 12 donors give through a DAF, knows which sponsors hold those funds, and has met two of the advisors who guide those donors.

Now imagine both organizations are heading into year-end. Which one sends a reminder to its DAF donors in early November? Which one knows to ask a long-time DAF donor about naming the organization as a beneficiary of the fund? Which one is an advisor more likely to recommend when a client asks where to give?

We know the answer.

This is what I mean by DAF readiness. It is the set of systems, policies, and relationships that allow an organization to receive DAF grants well, steward the people behind them, and follow the rules while doing it.

DAF readiness asks a few things of us. Our CRM records need to show which gifts came through DAFs and from which sponsors. Our giving page and appeals need to tell donors how to recommend a grant. Our acknowledgment letters, gift acceptance policy, and event materials need to reflect IRS rules. Our registrations to solicit contributions need to be current in every state where we ask for gifts. And our leadership needs to devote time to building relationships with the sponsors and advisors in our community.

So the next time a check comes in, remember that it came from a sponsor.
It was recommended by a donor.
It may have been suggested by an advisor.
Each of those people played a role in bringing that money to us.

The question is whether we understand that well enough to make it happen again.

Sources: DAF Research Collaborative, The Annual DAF Report 2025; Chariot, 7 Top Takeaways From the New 2025 DAF Report; Ted Hart, The DAF Revolution, Chapter 6.

Kirsten Stevens is Founder and CEO of The Kannico Agency. She holds an MBA and the CFRE and CAP® credentials, and is a BoardSource® Certified Governance Consultant.