Key Trends in Donor-Advised Funds and AI's Role in Nonprofits

In this episode of the Nonprofit Newsfeed, the hosts discuss significant trends shaping the nonprofit sector, focusing on Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) and AI's evolving impact.

Main Topics:

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs):

AI and Nonprofits:

Candid's Strategy:

Innovative Community Solutions:

Key Insights:

Call to Action:

A New Era of Direct-to-Consumer Giving

In this week's Nonprofit Newsfeed, the hosts delve into a groundbreaking development in philanthropy that was highlighted during the Super Bowl. The episode explores the introduction of Invest America accounts, a federally backed initiative providing tax-advantaged investment accounts for U.S. children under 18. The Treasury Department plans to seed each account with $1,000 for newborns starting in 2025, with the accounts unlocking in 2026.

A standout philanthropic commitment comes from the Dell Foundation, pledging $6.25 billion to deposit $250 into the accounts of 25 million children from low-income zip codes. This marks a shift towards a direct-to-consumer philanthropic model, allowing foundations to target specific communities, akin to how digital ads are targeted.

Key Insights:

Pros and Cons:

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are no longer a niche tool for ultra-wealthy donors—they’re a fast-growing, fragmented ecosystem holding more than $326 billion in charitable assets and expanding at ~25–30% annually. In this episode of the Whole Whale Podcast, Mitch Stein, Head of Strategy at Chariot, breaks down what’s really happening inside the DAF economy: over 1,400 DAF programs, millions of households using them, payout rates that consistently exceed private foundations, and a surge in contributions driven by appreciated stock and late-year tax planning. The takeaway for nonprofits is clear: DAFs are becoming a mainstream giving vehicle, not an edge case, and ignoring them means ignoring where a growing share of charitable dollars now live.

We also dig into the friction problem—and why it matters. DAFs reduce the mental friction of giving by separating “how much to give” from “where to give,” but outdated workflows still create drop-off at the moment of donation. Chariot’s role is to remove that last mile of friction through shared infrastructure like DAF Pay, making it as easy to give from a DAF as using Apple Pay. The result: higher conversion, larger gift sizes, and more money actually moving to nonprofits. For fundraisers, the message is practical and urgent—get DAF-ready, normalize DAF giving, and stop treating it like a rare edge case. The money is there. The question is whether your organization is easy to give to.

Sector Data & Reports

Annual DAF Report 2025 — Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (latest US DAF stats including assets, contributions, payouts, and account counts)

DAF & Payout Rate Insights — Chariot Resource on 2025 DAF Report for Fundraisers (breakdown of payout rates vs private foundations, DAF trends)

Annual Donor Advised Fund Report Overview (NPT/DAF Research Collaborative)

📈 Supplemental News & Context

Inside Philanthropy – DAF Growth Story & Trends (context on how assets and grants are growing)

AP News – Fidelity Charitable Grants Data (Nonprofit relevance)

🧠 Practical & Community Resources

Give Chariot – DAF Checkout + Resources for Nonprofits — Chariot’s official site with platform info.

DAFgiving360 Organization — large independent DAF sponsor with giving impact stats: https://www.dafgiving360.org/

📌 Other Helpful References

DonorsTrust (Wikipedia) — example of a standalone donor-advised fund organization: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DonorsTrust

AI's Impact on Nonprofit Visibility and the Changing Landscape of Foundation Support

This week's episode of the Nonprofit Newsfeed, the hosts delve into the evolving dynamics of AI's influence on nonprofit visibility and the current state of foundation support.

Main Topics:

AI's Knowledge Windows and Nonprofit Visibility: George and Nick discuss a new beta feature from OpenAI's ChatGPT called "knowledge windows." This feature presents information about organizations directly within the AI interface, potentially reducing website traffic as users get essential details without needing to visit the source. This development could significantly alter how nonprofits engage with potential donors and supporters, as AI becomes the gatekeeper of information.

Foundation Support and Nonprofit Perception Gap: A report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy highlights a significant perception gap between foundations and nonprofits. While 93% of foundation leaders believe they understand grantee challenges, only 54% of nonprofits agree. The report also notes that foundation responses have weakened post-COVID, despite increased demand for nonprofit services.

AI Ads: A New Frontier for Nonprofits

This week on the Nonprofit Newsfeed the hosts dive into a game-changing announcement from OpenAI that could revolutionize nonprofit marketing strategies. OpenAI has revealed plans to pilot advertising on ChatGPT, marking a significant shift in how nonprofits might engage with audiences.

Key Highlights:

Nonprofit Wellness Index Update:

Feel-Good Story:

This week on the Nonprofit News Feed, the hosts dive into pressing digital safety issues and uplifting philanthropic news. The episode covers the alarming rise of deep fakes and their implications for nonprofits, and celebrates a significant donation to support LGBTQ+ youth.

Main Topics:

Global Crisis of Deep Fakes: The episode highlights the disturbing trend of deep fakes, particularly on the AI platform Grok, which is generating non-consensual and sexualized images. The hosts stress the urgent need for nonprofits working with vulnerable groups to advocate for stricter regulations and educate communities on digital safety.

Implications for Nonprofits: The conversation emphasizes the critical role of nonprofits in combating AI-enabled cyberbullying and gender-based violence. Organizations are called to update internet safety protocols and engage in advocacy to protect affected communities.

Mackenzie Scott's Transformative Gift: In a beacon of hope, Mackenzie Scott's $45 million unrestricted donation to the Trevor Project is celebrated. This lifeline comes after federal funding cuts and highlights the importance of substantial, unrestricted support for nonprofits in crisis.

Dissolution of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting: The episode also covers the dissolution of this vital organization due to funding cuts, impacting local journalism and broadcasting. The hosts discuss the potential repercussions on local news and the need for new revenue streams.

Episode Overview:

Fraud in Minnesota's Social Services:

Flipcause Bankruptcy Fallout:

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Strategic Shift:

In the latest episode of the Whole Whale Podcast, hosts George and Nick reflect on the transformative themes that shaped the nonprofit sector in 2025. With a focus on AI's impact, they explore how answer engine optimization (AEO) has redefined nonprofit discovery and engagement. AI's rapid adoption has led to decreased organic traffic for nonprofits, necessitating strategic pivots in content and donor engagement.

George highlights a significant increase in AI-generated content, with Whole Whale producing nearly a million words daily. This shift underscores the need for nonprofits to establish internal AI policies and balance AI use with human oversight to maintain ethical standards and foster innovation.

Nick introduces the "crawl, walk, run" framework, guiding nonprofits in adopting AI responsibly. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining human expertise and authority in an AI-saturated world, urging organizations to focus on quality over quantity in content creation.

The episode also revisits key rants from 2025, including Microsoft's controversial changes to its nonprofit grant program and GoFundMe's unauthorized creation of shadow donation pages for nonprofits. These challenges highlight the importance of maintaining autonomy and control over nonprofit branding and fundraising.

Looking ahead to 2026, George and Nick advise nonprofits to prioritize strategic use of AI, leveraging high-quality intelligence tokens to amplify impact while avoiding the pitfalls of AI-generated "slop." They stress the importance of creating original, authoritative content that reflects an organization's mission and expertise.

As they close the episode, George and Nick express optimism for 2026, anticipating renewed energy and opportunities for nonprofits amidst upcoming midterms and sector transformations.

In this episode of the Nonprofit Newsfeed the hosts dive into the latest developments in the nonprofit sector, focusing on the aftermath of Giving Tuesday, challenges with donation platforms, and exciting AI opportunities for nonprofits.

Key Topics:

Giving Tuesday Overview: The hosts reflect on the impact and outcomes of the recent Giving Tuesday, with hopes that it reached the predicted $4 million mark to kickstart the fundraising season for nonprofits.

Donation Platform Concerns: A significant issue discussed is the case of Flip Cause, a donation platform that inadvertently kept "shadow campaign pages" live, leading to a $500,000 loss in donation revenue. The California State Attorney General issued a cease and desist order after nonprofits reported these discrepancies. This incident underscores the risks associated with outdated or unauthorized donation pages, emphasizing the need for nonprofits to regularly audit and verify their donation processes and data integrity.

AI for Nonprofits: Anthropic's announcement of Claude for Nonprofits offers a 75% discount on AI access, aiming to enhance nonprofit operations with AI tools for grant writing, engagement, and program evaluation. The hosts compare this offering to Google's AI tools, discussing pricing and the importance of choosing the right AI tools to maximize impact while ensuring data privacy.

Mr. Beast and Rockefeller Foundation Collaboration: The partnership between YouTuber Mr. Beast and the Rockefeller Foundation aims to engage young people in philanthropy by combining storytelling with data-driven philanthropy. The discussion highlights the potential impact and pitfalls of influencer-led philanthropy, emphasizing the importance of ethical storytelling and the need to avoid reinforcing negative narratives about aid recipients.