DAFpay by Chariot exists because nonprofits are in critical need of a modern, integrated solution to raise more money from Donor Advised Funds - which has never existed before. DAFs are huge and growing fast, but because they are difficult to use in standard fundraising flows, too much money stays in DAFs instead of in the hands of nonprofits.
There’s $234 Billion sitting in DAFs today, growing >30% per year and the 2 million people using DAFs make significantly larger gifts (24x larger than average credit card gifs) more often. Nonprofit teams spend countless hours managing mystery DAF checks in the mail, chasing donors to confirm gift details, and trying to find out which of their donors have DAFs.
DAFs are the fastest growing vehicle in philanthropy, but historically there has been no solution to effectively solicit, maximize, manage & steward DAF donors and their gifts. That’s why DAFpay by Chariot is so badly needed.
*Some nonprofits do list separate links to a few specific common DAFs, but this is incredibly rare and manual.
The most basic (and important!) way to start getting more DAF gifts is to ask for them. That’s why any solution that puts DAF giving front of mind for a donor is a helpful step forward for any nonprofit.
Design
1. No Redirects
When a donor is redirected to another 3rd party system, it has several negative consequences for an organization:
Any redirects reduce conversion
Your organization loses control over user experience, messaging, etc.
Your organization has no way to track & test performance
Your organization can’t optimize the process to increase gift size
When taken to their DAF portal, they’re reminded about other organizations they could support instead of just thinking about your organization
2. Smart Forms to Boost Donations
DAF donors come in all shapes and sizes. Having one form with one suggested gift size severely limits potential.
Chariot displays a donor’s total DAF balance to remind them how much money they’ve set aside and then makes a suggested donation size based on that balance & our own algorithm powered by our proprietary DAF donation data.
After that, Chariot nudges donors to “boost” their gift size before submitting - an option over 20% of donors utilize!
3. Donation Form Integrations
The best way to organically “find” new DAF donors is to give them an easy way to use their DAF when they would normally use a credit card for a smaller gift. The only way to interrupt their normal decision is to include a DAF option at the same location.
This is impossible to do without a tool that can be easily integrated directly into any donation form or fundraising platform like Chariot!
Donor Experience
4. Number of Clicks
Each additional required action for a user results in a precipitous decrease in conversion.
Getting someone to decide to donate is hard enough, it’s critical to limit the number of hurdles in their way to finishing that action so you don’t lose them. It’s even more critical with DAFs when the average donation at stake is nearly 5 thousand dollars!
5. Time to Donate
Overall time spent is also a hurdle that hinders a donor from getting over the finish line with their gift.
With Chariot, DAF donors are so delighted by the unbelievably easy experience, that they are also in a better mood and more likely to give more because of it!
6. Number of Supported DAFs
There are 1,100 providers of Donor-Advised funds - a large and incredibly fragmented market. Chariot’s solution includes every known DAF in the country so you can cater to any potential DAF donor.
Internal Operations
7. Capture Donor Information
This is the most common pain point with DAFs for nonprofit fundraisers - checks arrive in the mail without clear identifying details on the donor. Their first and last names are often not included. Sometimes mailing addresses are included, but emails almost never are.
Chariot captures name & email from donors, and communicates that + the gift size immediately when the grant is initiated - not weeks later when the checks arrive.
This allows fundraisers to thank high-value DAF donors right away.
8. Tracking DAF Grants
When checks are sporadically arriving in the mail, it requires manual entry into some kind of tracker.
All your DAF gifts through Chariot are tracked in one system, making it easy to track and reconcile, saving your team hours of time.
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