Participate in DAF Fundraising Research
The DAF Research Collaborative is undergoing an important study investigating how to best raise money with donor-advised funds. Learn more below, and indicate your interest in joining the work.
Donor-advised funds (DAF) are the fastest growing form of philanthropy and yet one of the least understood.
Professional fundraisers are learning how to best work with DAF donors, but more research is needed to learn what works and what does not work in cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding philanthropic donations from donors who use a donor-advised fund.
With financial support from the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy, DAFRC co-founder, Dr. H. Daniel Heist, from Brigham Young University and leading fundraising expert, Dr. Genevieve Shaker, from Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, are undergoing an important study investigating how to best raise money with DAFs. They are recruiting professional fundraisers with DAF donor experience to participate in 60-minute Zoom interviews.
The purpose of the study is to develop knowledge about successful methods for raising money from DAFs by learning from US fundraisers from a variety of nonprofit organizations who have experience working with DAF donors.
Dr. Heist and Dr. Shaker will be documenting professional fundraisers’ experiences working with DAF donors, including perceived best practices and challenges, as well as observations and insights into how a successful approach varies (or does not vary) from established fundraising paradigms.