Total grant dollars awarded through donor-advised funds in 2020 increased 27 percent on a year-over-year basis, to $34.67 billion, a report from the National Philanthropic Trust finds.

Based on data from 976 DAF-sponsoring organizations, including fifty-five national charities, 603 community foundations, and 318 single-issue charities, the 2021 DAF Report found that total contributions to DAFs increased 20.6 percent, to $47.85 billion, or 10.1 percent of total estimated charitable giving in the United States last year. Total charitable assets held in DAFs grew 9.9 percent, to $159.83 billion; the number of DAF accounts rose 16.3 percent, to more than a million; and the payout rate ticked up from 22.3 percent in 2019 to 23.8 percent in 2020, while the average size of DAF accounts declined 5.5 percent, to $159,019. By comparison, approximately ninety thousand independent foundations awarded grants totaling $63.6 billion, up 17 percent on a year-over-year basis, and held $1.1 trillion in charitable assets, up 10 percent.

According to the report, national charities sponsored 864,099 DAF accounts in 2020 — an increase of 20 percent from 2019 — which awarded grants totaling $21.17 billion, an increase of 23.2 percent, with contributions totaling $33.26 billion, up 18.7 percent; assets totaling $100.15 billion, up 12.9 percent; a payout rate of 23.9 percent, up slightly from 23.7 percent; and an average account size of $115,901, down 5.9 percent. Community foundations sponsored an estimated 84,334 DAF accounts, up 0.4 percent, which awarded grants totaling $8.29 billion in 2020, a 33.7 percent increase, with contributions totaling $9.64 billion, a 41.5 percent increase; assets totaling $45.84 billion, up 9.5 percent; a payout rate of 19.8 percent, up from 17.1 percent; and an average DAF account size of $543,553, up 9 percent. And single-issue charities sponsored an estimated 56,666 DAF accounts, up 5.3 percent, which awarded grants totaling $5.21 billion in 2020, an increase of 33.6 percent, with contributions totaling $4.95 billion, up 1.6 percent; assets totaling $13.84 billion, down 6.9 percent; a payout rate of 35 percent, up from 29.1 percent; and an average DAF account size of $244,238, down 1.8 percent.

"The fifteenth annual Donor-Advised Fund Report reflects DAF donors' initial, very generous response to the COVID-19 pandemic, calls for racial justice, and major climate change-related disasters," said National Philanthropic Trust CEO Eileen Heisman. "Twenty-twenty was a year that defied expectations with global crises, amplified social movements, and economic disruptions due to the pandemic. What this report affirms is that DAF donors not only responded quickly but also gave with historic generosity to the causes that mean most to them....Grants grew 30 percent faster than contributions in 2020. Grant growth has outpaced contribution growth six out of the last ten years, and total annual grantmaking from DAFs has increased four-fold over the past decade."

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