Accelerating Philanthropy,
one DAF* at a time.
*Donor Advised Fund account
Our approach
The DAF Literacy Project was launched after a talk on philanthropy at Google X in early 2025. This website was created as a simple repository for that audience to find objective resources.
No one involved in this project has a financial interest in promoting DAFs. More specifically, no one works for a financial institution aiming to attract funds into new DAF accounts, and no one works for a charity aiming to attract donations from DAF accounts. We simply believe in the importance of philanthropy, and we happen to know a good bit about that world.
With the increasing popularity of Donor Advised Funds, your own private “mini-foundation” could not be easier. It also could not be more anonymous, if you want privacy. DAFs are not perfect. Some feel the rules need an overhaul. Information about those criticisms are here on this site, too.
Whether you have a family foundation, or you make donations out of your piggy bank, we encourage you to give some money to good causes.
The leading edge of DAFs - Illiquid Assets
As donor-advised funds mature into a mainstream vehicle for philanthropic capital, the conversation is shifting—from how DAFs work, to what they are capable of. Increasingly, the answer lies in illiquid assets. These include closely held business interests, real estate, private equity, carried interests, and other non-cash holdings that represent both tremendous wealth and significant complexity.
Contributing illiquid assets to a DAF can unlock remarkable tax advantages and long-term charitable leverage, but it also requires a level of structural, legal, and timing sophistication that most sponsors—and many advisors—are only beginning to navigate. The rules are nuanced, the risks are real, and the outcomes depend not just on what is given, but how.
At DAFLiteracy.org, we focus on this frontier because it is where the architecture of modern philanthropy is being built. This is not philanthropy as checkbook charity. It is philanthropy as capital strategy—requiring clarity, humility, and rigor in equal measure. Our goal is to help donors and practitioners alike approach these opportunities with foresight, not improvisation.