Why it matters
A DAF grant comes from the sponsoring charity, not from the person. The donor already took their deduction, so you send the tax acknowledgment to the fund and a warm personal thank-you to the donor who recommended it.
DAF grants generally should not pay for anything the donor receives in return, such as a gala ticket or a membership benefit. Rules here are specific, so check with your accountant when a DAF grant arrives tied to an event or a pledge.
How Steward shows it
In Steward, a DAF is an organization on file like any other. Log the grant on the fund's profile with DAF as the payment method, and soft credit the person who recommended it. The bookkeeper export lists the grant as money under the fund that sent it.
Related terms
- Hard credit Hard credit is the credit for a gift given to the legal donor, the person or organization whose money it was. The hard credit donor is the one who receives the tax receipt.
- Soft credit A soft credit recognizes a person who influenced or arranged a gift that someone else legally made, such as a spouse, a peer-to-peer fundraiser, or the donor who recommended a donor-advised fund grant.
- Tax receipt Tax receipt is the name for the written confirmation a nonprofit gives a donor so they can deduct a gift. A US donor needs one to deduct any single contribution of $250 or more.
The free Lost & Found audit reads a giving export in your browser and shows your lapsing donors and what they used to give. Nothing is uploaded. Then bring the same file to a 20-minute demo.