Building Infrastructure for Modern Giving: Why DAFs and QCDs Demand Strategic Attention 

The Giving USA 2025 report confirmed what many fundraisers already feel: philanthropy is evolving, and the traditional playbook isn’t keeping pace. In our recent webinar, Future-Proofing Fundraising: 5 Strategic Moves from the Giving USA 2025 Report, we explored how organizations can translate these latest findings into actionable strategy. 

This article builds on that conversation, offering practical guidance for implementing the fifth strategic recommendation.  

Strategic Move #5: Build Infrastructure to Harness DAF and QCD Momentum 

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) and qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) have evolved from specialized giving tools to mainstream philanthropic vehicles. DAFs now represent 25% of all public-society benefit giving, with some sectors like independent schools seeing up to 50% of their annual contributions—including many of the largest gifts—flowing through these accounts. Meanwhile, QCDs offer retirement-age donors an increasingly popular way to make significant tax-efficient gifts directly from their IRAs. 

Yet many nonprofits are not effectively prepared for this shift. Organizations that haven’t built systems to handle these gifts seamlessly risk losing important giving opportunities. More importantly, they’re also missing opportunities to develop deeper, more strategic relationships with donors who are already demonstrating sophisticated giving behavior. 

This infrastructure gap isn’t just operational—it’s strategic. The donors using these vehicles are often your most committed supporters, and they deserve systems that match their level of engagement. 

Understanding the Strategic Value 

Donor-Advised Funds function like personal foundations without the administrative burden. Donors contribute assets, receive immediate tax benefits, and then recommend grants over time. This structure encourages thoughtful, ongoing philanthropic engagement. 

Qualified Charitable Distributions allow donors over the age of 70½ to direct up to $108,000 annually (indexed each year for inflation) from their IRAs directly to qualified nonprofits, satisfying required minimum distributions without creating taxable income. 

Both vehicles signal donor sophistication and long-term thinking. These aren’t impulse gifts—they represent deliberate philanthropic planning.  

Five Infrastructure Strategies for Modern Giving 

1. Make Alternative Giving Vehicles Visible and Accessible 

It’s important to highlight these giving vehicles, which may not be top of mind. Don’t make donors search for information about how to give through DAFs or QCDs. Integration should be seamless across all donor touchpoints: 

• Website Integration: Create dedicated pages explaining how to give through each vehicle, including step-by-step instructions and necessary organizational information. Consider adding a DAF widget to your website. 
• Form Integration: Include DAF and QCD options on all giving forms, pledge agreements, and online donation pages. Make these options as prominent as credit card and check giving. 
• Stewardship Materials: Reference these options in donor communications, annual reports, and campaign materials.  

2. Build Organizational Competency 

Your team’s confidence with these vehicles directly impacts donor experience and gift potential: 

• Staff Training: Ensure advancement staff, gift officers, and board members understand the mechanics and benefits of DAF and QCD giving. They should be able to explain advantages and address common concerns. 
• Proactive Conversations: Train staff to identify opportunities where these vehicles might benefit donors. A retiree considering a large gift might not know about QCD options. A donor with appreciated stock might benefit from DAF giving. 
• Cross-Department Coordination: Align advancement, finance, and administrative teams on processing procedures, acknowledgment requirements, and timeline expectations. 

3. Streamline Processing and Recognition 

These gifts can follow different paths than traditional donations, creating opportunities for delays or errors: 

• System Alerts: Configure your CRM to flag DAF and QCD gifts for appropriate handling and tracking. 
• Compliance-Friendly Acknowledgments: Develop templates that meet IRS requirements while maintaining personal warmth. DAF gifts, for example, require specific language about the sponsoring organization. 
• Timeline Management: Establish clear internal processes for receiving, processing, and acknowledging these gifts within appropriate timeframes. 

4. Develop Targeted Stewardship Approaches 

Donors using these vehicles often have different motivations and giving patterns than traditional supporters: 

• Preference Tracking: Record giving vehicle preferences in your donor database alongside other important information like communication preferences and areas of interest. 
• Customized Communication: Develop stewardship tracks that acknowledge the thoughtful nature of DAF and QCD giving while encouraging continued engagement. 
• Regrant Encouragement: For DAF donors, create compelling reasons to recommend additional grants from their funds by demonstrating impact and presenting new opportunities. 

5. Recognize Planned Giving Indicators 

DAF and QCD activity often signals a donor’s readiness for more sophisticated philanthropic conversations: 

• Qualification Signals: Use these giving patterns as indicators for planned giving outreach and major gift conversations. 
• Integrated Strategy: Align DAF and QCD donor stewardship with broader planned giving and capital campaign efforts. 
• Legacy Conversations: Help donors understand how these vehicles can fit into comprehensive philanthropic and estate planning strategies. 

Scaling Your Infrastructure Investment 

• Small Organizations: Focus on visibility and basic competency. Ensure your website clearly explains how to give through these vehicles and train key staff on the fundamentals. 
• Mid-Sized Organizations: Invest in segmentation and automated stewardship. Use your CRM to track these donors separately and develop targeted communication strategies. 
• Large Organizations: Build comprehensive integration across all fundraising programs. Align DAF and QCD strategies with planned giving, major gifts, and capital campaigns for maximum effectiveness. 

Measuring Infrastructure Effectiveness 

Track metrics that reflect both operational efficiency and strategic opportunity: 

• Processing Speed: Time from gift receipt to proper acknowledgment 
• Donor Satisfaction: Feedback on ease of giving through preferred vehicles 
• Repeat Giving: Percentage of DAF and QCD donors who give again through the same vehicle 
• Gift Growth: Average gift size trends among DAF and QCD users 
• Pipeline Development: Conversion rates from DAF/QCD giving to planned or major gifts 

The Strategic Opportunity 

Modern giving infrastructure isn’t just about accommodating donor preferences—it’s about positioning your organization for the sophisticated donors who increasingly drive philanthropic impact. These donors are making deliberate choices about where and how to give. Organizations that make those choices easy and rewarding will build stronger, more sustainable funding relationships. 

Questions to consider: 

• How easily can a donor complete a DAF or QCD gift through your current systems? 
• What training do your staff need to confidently discuss these giving options? 
• How are you leveraging these gifts as indicators of donor capacity and commitment? 

The organizations that thrive in the coming decade will be those that build infrastructure not just for today’s gifts, but for tomorrow’s donors.  

This analysis is based on insights from the latest Giving USA report and strategic recommendations shared by Marts&Lundy experts in our recent webinar – Sarah Clough, Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President, Insights & Analytics; Don Fellows, Senior Consultant & Principal and Practice Leader, Higher Education; Mark Kimbell, Senior Consultant & Principal and Practice Leader, Healthcare; and Jim Zimmerman, Senior Consultant & Principal and Schools Practice Leader.