What is a donor-advised fund?

Here at Charitable Impact, we care about helping you make an impact. If you have used our online platform in the past, then you’ll be familiar with how it works – you can open an account for free, and use it to easily give to your favourite charities in Canada.

But, what you might not know is that Charitable Impact is a public foundation, that operates as a donor-advised fund (DAF).

So, what is a donor-advised fund?

The simplest way to look at a donor-advised fund (DAF) is to compare it to a bank account, but for your charitable dollars. You can donate money into your account and keep it there until you decide on the charities, or causes, that you would like to support.

What does this mean?

It means that you can support all of your favourite charities from a single account.  

If you already know the cause(s) you’d like to support, then great! You can allocate your money straight away. However, if you need some time to decide where to give, or you want to save up your funds, that works too. Charitable Impact is here to make your charitable giving enjoyable and easy.

Every donor-advised fund is sponsored by a registered charity. When you add money to your Impact Account, you are actually making a donation to the CHIMP: Charitable Impact Foundation (Canada). We keep the funds safely in your account for you, until you’re ready to give tot the charities you care about.

Why use a donor-advised fund?

The use of donor-advised funds is becoming an increasingly popular way for people to manage their charitable giving. By operating as a donor-advised fund, your Impact Account can benefit you in the following ways:

All your giving in one place

You can donate to over 85,000 charities across Canada with your Impact Account, so you can easily manage all your charitable giving from one place – and all your tax receipts are in one place too!

Time and space

When you put money into your Impact Account, you don’t have to send it to a charity immediately. You can keep the money in your account until you are ready to give it away. This gives you time to do some research and discover the causes that matter most to you, and rediscover how good it feels to give.

Save up your charitable dollars

You can add money to your Impact Account, and save up your charitable dollars over time. Then, when you feel inspired to give, you can take action right away. The easiest way to save up money in your Impact Account is by setting up a recurring donation. Whether your recurring donation is $5 or $50, giving monthly will almost always allow you to create a greater impact.

See your impact and protect your privacy

Your Impact Account stores all your giving activity in one place, including gift amounts and ‘thank you’ notes from recipients. If you would like to keep your name off multiple mailing lists, it also does that too! You can choose to give to charities from your Impact Account without sharing your name, address or your contact information.

Flexibility

With Charitable Impact, you have the flexibility to donate a wide range of assets, not just cash. Other options include donating publicly traded securities and real estate.

If you have any questions about how your Impact Account works, then we are here to help! Get in touch by emailing us at [email protected]

Want to start making an impact? Sign-up for free today!