Which Clients Open Donor-Advised Funds

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Though the number of individuals and families who have established donor-advised fund (DAF) accounts already exceeds 450,000, many more continue to open them. Financial advisors, estate planning attorneys, and accountants have encouraged clients to open DAFs since they are easy to establish and use, able to accept donations of simple and complex assets, inexpensive and tax-efficient.

Numerous clients can still benefit from creating and funding a DAF. Advisors should proactively engage their clients and prospects to determine whether establishing a DAF is appropriate.

These conversations deepen relationships with clients, enable advisors to manage charitable assets that are important to the clients, and allow the clients to have a greater impact on the causes and charities most important to them. And even if clients established a DAF account directly with a sponsor, it is to their advantage to transfer the DAF to another DAF sponsor that will allow their advisor to manage the assets.