5 takeaways from the 2026 DAF Fundraising Report

With $326.5 billion in total assets in more than three million U.S. donor-advised funds (DAFs), DAF fundraising is an increasingly important revenue stream for nonprofits facing federal funding cuts and increased competition for foundation grants. The 2026 DAF Fundraising Report from K2D Strategies and Chariot offers a snapshot of trends in DAF giving, from the perspective of 54 national nonprofits that collectively received $3.3 billion in DAF revenue last year. Here are a few of the key findings:

1. DAF fundraising revenue continues to grow, in dollars and share of total

From 2022 to 2025, the nonprofits in the study reported 75% median growth in DAF revenue, compared with just 12% in non-DAF revenue.

For most nonprofits in the study, DAF revenue as a percentage of total revenue also grew, from a median 7% in 2021 to 11% in 2025. Small organizations with under $10 million in annual revenue saw the most significant jump in the share of DAF revenue, from 13.7% in 2021 to 24.1% in 2025.

2. DAF donors’ retention rates remain high

The retention rate among DAF donors in 2025 was 59%, 13 percentage points above the rate among non-DAF donors. Their retention rate remains high in spite of the challenges around DAF donor stewardship. In addition, DAF donors tend to give actively during natural disasters and breaking-news events and episodic donors are difficult to retain. Why are DAF donors different?

The authors suggest two explanations: First, DAF donors tend to be intentional with their giving, which means they may be inspired to give regardless of the level of stewardship from the nonprofits they support. Second, DAF sponsor portals are set up to make it easy to see and repeat prior-year giving.

3. DAF donors make larger gifts

DAF donors continued to make larger gifts than non-DAF donors in 2025. Interestingly, while the average DAF gift size grew from $2,995 in 2021 to $3,934 in 2025 and the average non-DAF gift size has ticked up from $21 to $25, the ratio between the two has remained the same: The median DAF gift is 12 times larger than the median non-DAF gift.

International relief organizations, which had the highest share of DAF fundraising revenue, at 23.7% of total revenue in 2025, also had the highest average DAF gift size, at $5,301.

4. Most new DAF donors increase or maintain their giving

Between 2021 and 2025, more than 50,000 existing donors to the nonprofits in the study switched to DAF giving. The data shows most of those donors either increased (64%) or maintained (20%) their annual giving to the same organization.

And the new DAF donors who increased their giving did so significantly. In 2025, half of those who switched to DAF giving at least doubled their annual giving to the same nonprofit.

5. Nonprofits still face challenges with DAF donor stewardship

At the same time, the report points out, some nonprofits are hesitant to pursue an aggressive DAF fundraising strategy because of certain limitations that can lead to difficulty tracking outcomes from DAF giving and poor donor stewardship. These challenges include:

• Delayed receipt of funds. Many DAF sponsors still mail paper checks, so gifts aren’t received for weeks or months.
• Information gaps. DAF gifts often don’t list donors’ names or email addresses, so it’s difficult for nonprofits to thank and steward their DAF donors.
• Lack of standardization. DAF sponsors send funds and their associated data in different ways through different systems, which makes the data entry slow and prone to errors. In addition, most CRMs aren’t designed to track DAF giving.

This article is part of a regular feature where Candid insights shares key takeaways from a new research report to encourage a more data-driven approach to the sector’s work. Please email insights@candid.org to recommend a report for an upcoming feature. 

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