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Brian Howell, Director of Charitable Consulting at DAFgiving360™, unpacks how donor-advised funds can move charitable giving from a year-end tax decision to a more deliberate part of long-term wealth planning. He walks through the core advantages of DAFs, from contributing appreciated and complex assets to investing for tax-free growth and building succession plans that can simplify charitable legacy decisions over time.
He also shares new DAFgiving360 research showing that DAF users tend to be more engaged, more recurring in their giving, and more connected to the causes they support. Howell makes the case that this creates a meaningful opening for advisors, not just in tax planning, but in helping clients tie philanthropy more closely to family legacy, major liquidity events, and broader financial strategy.
If you’d like to learn more about working with DAFgiving360 and the benefits to both you and your clients, review their online resources or request more information.
Related: Donor-Advised Funds and the Future of Giving with Julie Sunwoo
DAFgiving360™ is the name used for the combined programs and services of Donor Advised Charitable Giving, Inc., an independent nonprofit organization which has entered into service agreements with certain subsidiaries of The Charles Schwab Corporation. DAFgiving360 is a tax-exempt public charity as described in Sections 501(c)(3), 509(a)(1), and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Contributions made to DAFgiving360 are considered an irrevocable gift and are not refundable. Once contributed, DAFgiving360 has exclusive legal control over the contributed assets.
A donor's ability to claim itemized deductions is subject to a variety of limitations depending on the donor's specific tax situation.
Contributions of certain real estate, private equity, or other illiquid assets may be accepted via a charitable intermediary, with proceeds transferred to a donor-advised fund (DAF) account upon liquidation. Call DAFgiving360 for more information at 800-746-6216.
Market fluctuations may cause the value of investment fund shares held in a donor-advised fund (DAF) account to be worth more or less than the value of the original contribution to the funds.
DAFgiving360 does not provide legal or tax advice. Please consult a qualified legal or tax advisor where such advice is necessary or appropriate.
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Transcript:
[00:00:03] Doug Heikkinen: This is The Power Your Advice podcast and I'm Doug Heikkinen. Today we welcome Brian Howell, the Director of Charitable Consulting at DAFgiving360. Brian, welcome to the podcast.
[00:00:17] Brian Howell: Thank you. Glad to be here Doug.
[00:00:20] Doug Heikkinen: It's great to have you here. . .
[00:00:27] Brian Howell: Absolutely. I'm very glad to be here. My name's Brian Howell. I serve as the Director of Charitable Consulting at DAFgiving360, one of the largest national donor-advised fund sponsors with the mission to increase giving in the United States. I lead a group of consultants who work with advisors providing education and resources to help them be more effective in incorporating philanthropy into the wealth management process.
[00:00:53] Doug Heikkinen: That's great. Thanks Brian. As part of your role, do you work directly with donors? Can you share a little bit more about that?
[00:01:03] Brian Howell: Yes, I do. I love working with our DAFgiving360 donors. It's incredibly rewarding to work with donors firsthand to help them maximize their impact and build lasting philanthropic relationships.
Often donors come to us wanting to learn how to be more impactful in their giving. As you can imagine, that opens up conversations that can go in many directions. Typically, we discuss what the different vehicles are in giving, including private foundations, community foundations, and charitable trusts, and almost always we discuss the donor-advised fund account and how it can be a helpful tool for their philanthropy.
We also might get into different tax strategies in giving, and most definitely succession planning and potentially creating a legacy through their giving.
[00:01:48] Doug Heikkinen: Now DAFs are known for their strategic benefits in philanthropy. Can you run us through some characteristics that make them a compelling option for donors?
[00:01:58] Brian Howell: Yeah, you're right, Doug. DAFs are known for being a tech smart giving solution, offering a strategic beneficial vehicle for both donors and charities. From a planning standpoint, donor-advised fund accounts offer several core capabilities. That's contributing, investing, granting, and creating a succession plan to support long-term philanthropic goals.
DAF donors have the ability to invest contributed assets for potential growth that's tax free to accrue additional value for charity. In fact, investment growth in 2025 created an additional $8 billion available for grants to charity. Beyond just cash, DAF donors are also able to contribute complex non-cash assets like real estate, collectibles, restricted stock, and more.
From a deduction perspective, donors are eligible for a current year tax deduction because DAF sponsors are public charities. Finally, DAFs are easily aligned with tax strategy, estate planning, and broader financial plans to maximize charitable impact. Donors will talk to me about their trust or will and how they've listed charities they like to give after death.
It opens up a conversation on a very useful strategy that we discuss a lot these days, and that's advising donors to include their DAFgiving360 account name and account number in their official documents rather than the charities themselves. That way a predetermined amount or a percentage of their estate can be pointed to their DAF account on their death, and the DAF account can have their favorite charities listed. That'd be for granting recommendations as part of the account succession plan. The strategy, listing charities is beneficiaries of the DAF instead of listing charities in the trust documents, allows for changes to that charity list during life at no additional charge, versus having to potentially pay an attorney to amend their trust documents anytime they wanted to make that change.
[00:04:01] Doug Heikkinen: DAFgiving360 recently released new data on donor behavior and giving strategies. What were some of the key takeaways?
[00:04:10] Brian Howell: I'm glad you asked. Yes, DAFgiving360 recently released research data on donor giving and volunteering behavior in celebration of National Volunteer month in April. This research focussed on behaviors and sentiment around giving and volunteering of both general donors and those using a DAF. Our main findings can be distilled into three trends. First, DAF donors are deeply connected to the causes they support. Next, DAF donors are strategic and research driven in their giving. And finally, DAFs help donors strengthen their long-term impact. In particular, we saw some really interesting data around the heightened connection of DAF donors with the charities they engage with.
[00:04:54] Doug Heikkinen: That is interesting. Does that mean there are differences in the level of engagement between those who do and those who do not use DAFs? We'd like to hear a little bit more about that.
[00:05:06] Brian Howell: Absolutely, Doug. While the data was really positive overall, based on our research, donors with DAFs are more engaged and feel more connected to the charities they support compared to donors who do not use DAFs.
Donors with DAFs are 18% more likely to volunteer multiple times a week, 22% more likely to volunteer once a month or more, 23% more likely to donate to the same organizations they volunteer for. Additionally, 96% of donors with DAFs give to charity on a recurring basis compared to 86% of those without a DAF.
We also heard from DAF donors that 98% feel they have greater impact on causes they care about after using a DAF, and 95% report giving with more alignment to their personal values.
[00:05:58] Doug Heikkinen: That's really important information. Can you speak to some of the broader charitable giving trends you've observed?
[00:06:05] Brian Howell: Well, personally, I'm encouraged by the number of our donors who want to include their family and their giving through their DAF account.
I love how it strengthens the family dynamic and it allows them to establish that legacy that's so important to many. It also allows advisors to begin establishing relationships with the second and third generation, which is always a good thing. I think one big takeaway from the research overall is how intentional donors are with their giving.
Donors extensively, research prospective charities, and over 90% feel confident in their ability to identify and vet charities. Additionally, donors reported that impact and effectiveness, financial transparency, and alignment with personally important causes are the top factors considered important in deciding where to donate.
Good leadership of charities was also a top five factor in importance for donors. Overall donors using DAFs, and not using DAFs, are highly intentional with their dollars and they take time and care in their decision making.
[00:07:12] Doug Heikkinen: So where do advisors come into play in charitable giving strategies, particularly those using DAFs?
[00:07:20] Brian Howell: Advisors play a very important role for many donors, both those who do and do not use DAFs. They can be instrumental in helping to establish a strategic giving plan and aligning charitable goals with broader financial strategy. Advisors also help advise clients around taxes and charitable giving, particularly in cases like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and establish charitable estate plans and recurring granting.
For DAF users, advisors play an important role in educating the clients about DAFs and can help them think more strategically about their charitable giving, incorporating major life events like the sale of real estate, sale of business, and more.
Many donors at DAFgiving360 work alongside advisors to help navigate these strategies.
In fact, we work with a network of over 5,000 advisors, and 77% of DAF accounts were associated with an advisor in 2025.
[00:08:17] Doug Heikkinen: Now, everything you've laid out for us today has been really important and interesting. Where can our listeners learn more and access the full results of the research?
[00:08:27] Brian Howell: Of course. Listeners can access the full results in our press release, available on our website's press room and published on April 1st. DAFgiving360 also has a wealth of online resources on DAFs, including articles, guides, calculation tools, tutorials, and more for donors and advisors to explore. The DAFgiving360 team and its Charitable Strategies Group have specialized knowledge about all forms of contributions to charities.
Our team stands ready to help in finding the vehicle that best supports both the charitable and financial goals of your clients. We strive to provide unbiased guidance while providing communication every step of the way to help advisors and their clients make informed decisions.
[00:09:13] Doug Heikkinen: Great stuff, Brian. Anything else you'd like to share with our listeners before we go?
[00:09:18] Brian Howell: Well, Doug, I think ultimately it's that regardless of whether donors are using DAFs, all charitable giving is important and deeply valued. For gifts large and small, every contribution makes a difference. We always encourage all advisors working with donors to find new ways to engage with charitable organizations, including getting involved firsthand through volunteering and sitting on boards.
DAFgiving360 is always incredibly impressed by the generosity of our donors and continues to be touched by the many ways donors show up for the causes that they care about.
[00:09:53] Doug Heikkinen: Brian, charitable giving is incredibly important and we thank you and everyone at DAFgiving360 for everything that they do.
Thanks for being with us.
[00:10:02] Brian Howell: Of course. Thank you, Doug. Appreciate it.
[00:10:05] Doug Heikkinen: To learn more about DAFgiving360, please visit DAFgiving360.org. For our producer Tory Miller, I am Doug Heikkinen, and thank you so much for listening.