7 things you can do to get the most from DAF donors

As donor-advised funds explode in popularity, you increasingly have donors with DAFs. And those donors have the potential to be midvalue or major donors and to leave bequests.

Here’s some help for maximizing your DAF donors, from the Masterworks Blog, at 7 Ways to Inspire Donors to Give With a Donor-Advised Fund:

1. Identify donors who have given DAFs and cultivate them. Track their DAF donations as “soft credits.”
   
2. Quickly and appropriately acknowledge the donor who recommended the DAF gift.
   
3. Use donor engagement or preference surveys to see if you can get DAF donors to identify themselves.
   
4. Treat DAF supporters as mid-level or even major donors.
   
5. Add a DAF widget or giving opportunity on your website. This can make it easier for them to give.
   
6. Use direct mail appeals, receipt inserts, newsletters, and other communication to: Invite donors to name your organization as a DAF beneficiary, remind donors they can use their DAF to make recurring gifts, provide helpful content about setting up you up as a recipient of the DAF.
   
7. Use your next major donor mailing to ask for a “leadership gift” and suggest that a DAF might be an excellent way to accomplish that.