DAF Giving FAQs

Updated October 16, 2025 00:55

What is a Donor Advised Fund?

A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is a charitable giving account donors can use to support the causes and organizations they care about.

🧠 In simple terms: They contribute to their fund, receive an immediate tax deduction, and then recommend grants to nonprofits like yours over time.

Which Donor Advised Funds Are Supported by DAFpay?

🎉 DAFpay supports enhanced Donor Advised Fund giving from all 1,151 DAFs and is compatible with over 70% of the DAF market by volume. (🔗 DAF Provider Directory)

Supported DAF Providers Include:

Fidelity Charitable
Schwab Charitable (DAFGiving360)
Vanguard Charitable
National Philanthropic Trust (UBS, Wells Fargo)
Bank of America’s Charitable Gift Fund
J.P. Morgan Private Bank
BNY Mellon
National Christian Foundation
Charityvest
The Donors Fund
Morgan Stanley GIFT
Austin Community Foundation
iGiftFund
Bradley Impact Fund
OJC Fund
Daffy... and more!

We also recommend reviewing all of the FAQs on DAFpay’s website!

How Long Does It Take for a DAF Donation to Be Received?

From start to finish, the process can take about 4–6 weeks.

Once a donor recommends a grant, the DAF provider follows a 3-step process to ensure the donation is processed accurately and securely.
Each step typically takes 7–10 business days, depending on how quickly information is reviewed and confirmed.

Quick Look at the Process:

Verifying Your Nonprofit's Information: The provider confirms your organization’s details (such as your legal name, EIN, and contact information), so the grant goes to the right place.
Requesting Gift Details: Next, they may ask how the donation will be used or request clarification to match the donor’s intent.
Confirming Payment: Finally, they either confirm your nonprofit’s bank account for a direct (ACH) transfer or prepare a physical check to be mailed.

Is There Anything We Can Do to Help Move Things Along?

To help speed up the DAF grant process, a nonprofit can take a few proactive steps, though the timeline is largely in the hands of the DAF provider. Here are some helpful tips:

🏦 Ensure Your Information is Up to Date
- Make sure your nonprofit’s contact information, including your bank account details for direct deposits, is current with the major DAF providers.
- This helps prevent any delays related to incorrect or outdated information.
📧 Respond Quickly to Requests
- If the DAF provider reaches out for any additional information or clarification about the gift, respond promptly. The quicker they get the information they need, the faster they can process the grant!
- 👉🏽 If you haven’t heard within 3 weeks of a DAF gift being initiated, we recommend reaching out directly to the DAF provider for next steps.
💬 Encourage Donors to Share DAF Grant Details
- Ask your donors to provide confirmation of the grant request once it's initiated.
- If the grant was made through the DAF gift flow, you can view the DAFpay Tracking ID and External Grant ID in your Dashboard.
💡 Set Expectations with Donors
- Please remind your donors that the DAF process takes longer than a typical online donation.
- By managing expectations, they can follow up with their DAF provider more proactively if necessary, which would help speed things up.

Do DAF Gifts Include Donor Contact Information?

🙋🏽‍♂️ Sometimes! It depends on what the donor chooses to share. Some providers include the donor’s name and any special instructions, while others may keep it anonymous.

What Should We Do If We Receive a Check and Don’t Know Who It’s From?

☎️ You can reach out to the DAF provider listed on the check or in the bank descriptor. They should be able to provide more details and help you track it down!

How Will DAF Gifts Show Up in My Bank Account?

Legacy DAF Gifts

📫 The deposit will typically show the sending DAF provider. Most DAF gifts are sent by check, but if you’ve arranged an ACH transfer with the provider, the funds will come directly from them.

New DAF Gifts

🏦 The funds will be deposited directly into the bank account you have on file.

Why Does a DAF Gift Appear as "Abandoned" or "Failed"?

When viewing Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) gifts in your Dashboard, you may come across the terms "abandoned" and "failed." These statuses indicate different situations related to the gift process.

Abandoned

An "abandoned" status means that the donor started the DAF gift process but did not complete it. This can happen if the donor:

⚠️ Started the DAF gift process but didn’t finalize the transfer
⚠️ Didn’t provide the necessary information to complete the transaction (e.g., not connecting to their DAF provider through the DAFpay widget)

Failed

A "failed" status means that the donor connected to the DAFpay widget, but something went wrong, and the transaction didn’t go through. Common reasons for a failed status include:

⛔️ Payment processing errors
⛔️ Mismatched information (e.g., if a donor enters an incorrect account number or uses a different name than what's registered with their DAF)
⛔️ Issues with the fund transfer from the donor's DAF provider

Next Steps

No further action is required on your part, but it might be helpful to reach out to the donor for clarification. If they need additional assistance, they can contact our Support team and share screenshots of any error messages.

Can I Delete a DAF Donation?

DAF (Donor-Advised Fund) donations cannot be deleted from your Dashboard.

If a grant was initiated through Overflow's DAF flow and received by check, and you also manually entered that check as a separate donation, you may see a duplicate entry.
We recommend checking for any “In Process” DAF gifts in Overflow each time a check is received from a DAF provider (e.g., Fidelity Charitable).
- If a DAF gift does not appear in the Contributions module, it means the grant was initiated outside of our platform and will need to be entered manually.
- This should only occur when a DAF provider does not support express grant requests through DAFpay, or if the DAF grant request was initiated by the donor’s Financial Advisor.

To Resolve This:

✅ Mark the DAF gift as received in your Dashboard
🚫 Void the manually entered check

This ensures the donation is properly recorded without duplication and reflects accurately in your reports.