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How to use Givebutter’s DAFpay donation method
How to use Givebutter’s DAFpay donation method

Get direct access to an estimated $230B sitting in Donor-Advised Funds via DAFpay – never again worry about missing out on DAF donations.

Mark Rummel avatar
Written by Mark Rummel
Updated over a week ago

Once considered primarily a tool for the wealthy, Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) are gaining mainstream adoption. DAFs are currently the fastest-growing vehicle in all of philanthropy, with more than $52 billion in donations through DAFs in 2023. Read more: What is a Donor Advised Fund? →

dafpay screen

Never again do you have to worry about missing out on a DAF donation. Givebutter's DAF donation method, DAFpay powered by Chariot, instantly initiates DAF donations, and the funds are on their way! DAFpay is automatically added to all verified nonprofit accounts.

DAFpay is only available to verified nonprofit accounts on Givebutter at this time.

Top benefits ⭐

  • Allow donors to easily donate with any Donor-Advised Fund directly through any Givebutter donation form.

  • Receive larger donations – The average DAF donation is around $5K, and the median is more than $500. Plus, donors see their DAF account balance in the donation flow and are invited to "boost" their donation.

boost donation
  • Collect DAF donor information, which is often omitted using other methods.

  • Send targeted emails and texts to your DAF donors using Engage.

  • Fully-integrated ACH withdrawals are available for all organizations with verified status via Chariot. Unverified accounts, or organizations without a Chariot account will still be able to receive DAF donations via check.

Supported DAFs 🏦

DAFpay supports enhanced Donor Advised Fund giving from all 1,151 DAFs and is directly integrated with over 70% of the DAF market by volume, including Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, National Philanthropic Trust and many others. The remaining 30% of DAFs utilize the manual donation flow.

Pricing 💰

There are no set-up fees from Givebutter or from Chariot (who powers DAFpay) to use this feature. DAFpay charges a 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee for facilitating DAF donations.

Your organization will receive the donation amount, minus the processing fee, which is deducted before the funds land in your account. These amounts are itemized in your DAFpay dashboard.

Example: A $500 DAF donation will become $514.80 with the 2.9% +$.30 fee, rounded up to $515. The additional $15 will be paid to Chariot, and the organization will receive $500.

How DAF donations work 📝

After entering a one-time donation amount, DAFpay is selected from the list of available checkout options. The donor will be prompted to enter their contact information, and the DAFpay process will launch in a popup window. The donor chooses their DAF provider, enters their login information, and submits their donation.

DAF will not appear as an option for monthly, quarterly, or yearly donations. Ensure you've selected a one-time donation.

Once submitted, a success screen will appear on Givebutter, confirming submission of the DAF donation, and a receipt is sent to the donor via email. In the notification email sent to the organization, Donor Advised Fund will be indicated, with additional information about the payment.

Receiving DAF payments 💸

If your nonprofit has verified/onboarded as a nonprofit with Chariot:

After verifying organizational and bank information in Chariot, a nonprofit can choose to either manually or automatically withdraw their donations as the balance becomes available. Manually withdrawals and setting up automatic withdrawals can both be done via the Payouts tab in the Chariot dashboard. This is done via ACH – no more checks!

Enrolled Nonprofits: Nonprofit organizations must link their bank account to a verified Chariot account for seamless ACH payouts of their DAF gifts.

If your nonprofit has not verified/onboarded as a nonprofit with Chariot, or does not have an account with Chariot:

The DAFpay Network processes the donation and sends the final donation (excluding processing fees) as a check to the receiving nonprofit's address, as listed with the IRS.

Non-Enrolled Nonprofits: If a nonprofit opts not to enroll via Chariot, donations directed to them are processed after verifying compliance with our grant requirements (such as confirming they are a 501c3 in good standing with the IRS). Non-enrolled nonprofits will receive their funds via a check in the mail.

Viewing your DAF donations 👀

You can view all your DAF donations, including donor information, in your Givebutter Dashboard on the Transactions tab under Track.

transactions tab

Filter by Payment Method and select Donor-Advised Fund to only see DAF donations.

filter for DAF payment method

FAQ 🤔

How do I add DAFpay to my account or campaign?

You'll need to enable DAFpay on your Integrations page – only admins have access to the Integrations page.

What is the minimum DAF donation amount?

The minimum DAF donation varies by DAF provider – this can range from $20-$250+. If a donor enters an amount less than the minimum and then selects DAFpay, their donation amount will be increased to the minimum and they will be notified of the required increase before they confirm their donation.

Is DAFpay free? Do I need to pay for this integration?

DAFpay is free to use, and there aren't any associated fees for the integration itself – fees are only charged when a DAF donation is made. DAFpay charges a 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee for facilitating a DAF donation. If your organization would like to remove the processing fee, you can optionally subscribe to a paid plan with Chariot.

The DAF option is not appearing on my campaign!

This is likely because a donation frequency other than "one-time" has been selected. DAF will only appear as an option on one-time donations in the checkout flow. You may also not be logged into a verified nonprofit account on Givebutter – only verified nonprofits have access to DAFpay.

What if the grant request gets denied by the DAF or I don’t receive my donation?

DAFpay will issue a full refund on the processing fee if the donation was not approved. If your donation does not arrive, you can send the Chariot team an email at [email protected].

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