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Giving through a Donor-Advised Fund

We welcome gifts made through a Donor-Advised Fund! A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is a charitable giving account that allow users to direct tax-deductible gifts towards nonprofit initiatives of their choice.

Using your Donor-Advised Fund on DonorsChoose

You can use your Donor-Advised Fund to support projects on DonorsChoose by:

  1. Purchasing account credits now and allocating them to projects when your funds arrive OR 
  2. Picking individual projects now and recommending your DAF donation is applied to them specifically 

DonorsChoose account credits are like DonorsChoose dollars that you can use to support projects on our site. Once your DAF grant is received by our Finance Team, credits will be deposited into your DonorsChoose account and you can apply them to any project(s) of your choosing. 

 

How to Donate Using Your Donor-Advised Fund

Option A: Purchase DonorsChoose Account Credits

  1. Visit our account credits page
  2. Choose the amount of credits you’d like to purchase
  3. At the checkout screen, select “Other”, then select “Donor-Advised Fund”, and complete your purchase.
  4. A Donation ID will be generated on the next screen. Please make a note of this and record it on the memo line in your grant recommendation.

Once we receive your funds, credits will be available in your DonorsChoose account for immediate use.

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Donor-Advised Fund appears as a payment option by clicking "Other" at checkout.

 

Option B: Donate to Individual Projects

You can donate directly to projects using your DAF, and we’ll apply funds to the project(s) you’ve selected once the funds arrive from your DAF.

IMPORTANT:  Some projects may be fully funded or expired by the time your DAF funds arrive. If you tend to spend a lot of time selecting projects, please consider purchasing account credits with your DAF (see instructions above) instead of donating to individual projects. 

To donate to individual projects using your DAF: 

  1. Select the projects you want to support, and how much you want to give to each project.
  2. Add individual projects to your cart by selecting “Give to this classroom” 
  3. Once you’ve added all the projects you want to support to your cart, and navigate to check out. 
  4. At the checkout screen, select “Other”, then select “Donor-Advised Fund” to complete your purchase.
  5. A Donation ID will be generated on the next screen. Please make a note of this and record it on the memo line in your grant recommendation.

Once funds arrive from your DAF, we’ll apply the funds and amounts to the projects you selected. If any of the projects you chose to support no longer need donations, we’ll add the funds back to your donor account in the form of account credits that you can use to support other DonorsChoose projects of your choosing. 

 
Placing your Donor-Advised Fund donation on DonorsChoose

  1. Once you’ve added credits, projects, or gift cards to your cart, on the checkout page, select Donor-Advised Fund as your payment method. You'll find this option by clicking "Other" when asked for your payment method.

  2. After selecting "Donor-Advised Fund", follow the instructions on that screen.

  3. Recommend your donation to your Donor-Advised Fund by specifying the $ amount and the Donation ID. 

  4. If you have Fidelity or BNY, use the DAF Direct widget to log in to your account and complete your pledge. If you have another DAF, you will need to contact your Donor-Advised Fund to send a check to our donation lockbox (and not our physical address in New York):
               DonorsChoose
                Mail code: 6656, P.O. Box 7247
                Philadelphia, PA 19170- 6656

  5. You’ll receive an email once we’ve received your donation from your Donor-Advised Fund. After your DAF issues payment and we have received it, this usually takes up to 10 business days to process and add into your account.

Looking for other ways to support teachers and classrooms? Check out our guide to strategic giving!

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Donor-Advised Funds 

What is a Donor-Advised Fund?

A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) provides donors with a centralized charitable giving vehicle. Through a Donor-Advised Fund, you can allocate charitable gifts and take an immediate tax deduction. Commonly used Donor-Advised Funds include Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable,  Vanguard Charitable, National Philanthropic Trust, and BNY Mellon, among many others. 

Can I include multiple projects in one DAF donation?

Yes, you can add multiple projects to your cart to be included in the same pledge. Each checkout process uses a Donation ID.

I donated to a project or purchased account credits through my DAF, when will I see that donation on the site? 

We will allocate your donation in the way you selected as soon as we receive the funds from your DAF. Typically, most DAF checks are processed within 3-10 days of receipt. 

What if the project I’m funding is completed before my donation is received? 

We’ll notify you and deposit your donation into your account as account credits, so that you can support another classroom of your choice. 

Can you expedite my donation? 

In many cases, yes! Once you have made your recommendation to your Donor-Advised Fund, send proof of your DAF recommendation (such as a screenshot or downloaded PDF of the confirmation page from the DAF portal) to daf@donorschoose.org to expedite the process. 

What information do I need to provide to make a recommendation from my DAF? 

To recommend a donation from your Donor-Advised Fund, you’ll need: 

  • Your Donation ID - which you’ll receive once you’ve placed your donation on DonorsChoose. Include this in your recommendation to your DAF, so they can include it in the memo line on the check they send to us 
  • Mailing address (not our physical address):             

           DonorsChoose

             Mail Code: 6656, P.O. Box 7247

            Philadelphia, PA 19170- 6656

Can I receive an additional tax credit from DonorsChoose for my donation made using my Donor-Advised Fund?

Donations made to DonorsChoose through a Donor-Advised Fund are not tax deductible, as the tax credit is given when donating funds into a Donor-Advised Fund. You will not see tax wording on your receipt after we receive payment. 

Where can I find my Donation ID?

After proceeding through checkout on DonorsChoose, you can access your Donation ID and instructions for recommending your donation in 3 places:

  1. On the confirmation screen after placing your donation
  2. In your email inbox
  3. In your DonorsChoose account: sign in -> click your name in the top-right corner of the screen -> click “private info” in the dropdown menu -> click the dollar amount listed in “checks to send”

What is DonorsChoose’s EIN (Employer Identification Number)?

DonorsChoose is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of New York.

The EIN (Employer Identification Number) for DonorsChoose is 13-4129457.

Where did DAFpay go?

We are undergoing some maintenance with DAFpay right now and expect it to be available very soon! For now, please recommend a grant in combination of donorschoose.org/credits and your DAF provider, outlined in the steps above.

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