A Glaisman Tool
How much of your DAF
is actually moving?
Most donor-advised fund statements show you a balance. They don't show you whether the capital inside that account is functioning as a giving vehicle or a tax-advantaged holding pen. This number does.
Why this number matters
Your payout rate is the clearest signal of whether your DAF is doing what you set it up to do.
Donor-advised funds currently pay out above 25% on average across the sector, far higher than the 5% private foundations are required to distribute. That headline number has protected DAFs from regulatory pressure for years.
The number is about to change. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in 2025, changed when and how charitable deductions clear the tax return. Advisers are telling clients to front-load several years of giving into a single tax year. Balances will sit longer. Aggregate payout rates will fall, and the critics calling DAFs “wealth hoarding vehicles” will get a sharper argument.
Your individual payout rate sits underneath that aggregate. Knowing it tells you whether your account is moving capital into the field, where rising demand is real and immediate, or sitting where the IRS, the press, and Congress are increasingly likely to notice.
The benchmarks
Where does your number land?
Under 10%
Sitting
The capital is committed to charity on paper but is not moving into the field. This is the band drawing regulatory attention and press scrutiny. If your number is here, the question is not whether to grant more, but where.
10 – 25%
Coasting
Above the foundation minimum but below the sector average. Common for donors bunching multi-year giving plans. The risk is drift. Without a deployment schedule, this is where the balance quietly grows.
Above 25%
Moving
The account is functioning as a giving vehicle. The capital is reaching organizations that need it. This is the band most donors set out to be in, and the one regulators are not coming for.
Take it further
Three questions to ask your DAF provider this week
The payout rate is one signal. These three questions surface what the statement doesn't show you about how your account actually operates.
Question one
“What is your written policy on declining a grant recommendation?”
In practice, firms almost always honor recommendations. But the “advised” in donor-advised fund is exactly that, a recommendation. A clear written policy tells you the firm has thought about the edges of that relationship before you needed them to.
Question two
“What is the published payout rate for your DAF program in the most recent year?”
Aggregate program payout rates are public for most major sponsors. A provider who can answer this directly is one paying attention to the same numbers Congress and the IRS are.
Question three
“What happens to my account if I die without naming a successor or charitable beneficiary?”
The default rules vary by sponsor. Some redirect to the sponsor's general fund. Others go to a predetermined list of charities the sponsor selects. Knowing the default lets you decide whether to override it.