# DAF Champion AMA - Canonical: https://givechariot.com/resources/webinars/daf-champion-ama - Published: 2026-06-09 --- Any organization serious about growing DAF giving needs an internal champion driving that initiative. We call that person a DAF Champion. We sat down with three DAF Champions to see what that actually looks like in practice: - **Michael Crisona**, SVP of Philanthropy, Blood Cancer United, a major\-gifts fundraiser who built a dedicated DAF strategy - **Scott Forshey\-Friedman**, Donor Engagement & Experience Director, Wounded Warrior Project, a mid\-level and mass\-market fundraiser spreading DAF ownership across a broader team - **Rebecca Jacobs**, Director of DAF Execution, Charityvest, a DAF sponsor watching both approaches from the other side of the grant. In this recap, you'll learn: 1. Why DAF giving has gone mainstream 2. What a DAF Champion is 3. How to get started as a DAF Champion 4. Q&A ## 1. DAF giving has gone mainstream Years ago, DAF giving was relatively inaccessible to the general public. Much of the discussion around DAF giving was in the context of high\-net\-worth individuals. Today, the focus has shifted to more of a mainstream giving vehicle, available to anyone. Where some DAF sponsors used to require a $10,000 minimum to open an account, today several sponsors give the ability to open one with just $5. > “We talk about DAFs going mainstream. It traditionally was a tool for ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth giving circles, and now, with online tools and technology, it's actually quite easy for anybody to open a donor-advised fund.” Blood Cancer United's own internal data demonstrate this shift with DAF giving: gifts made online through a DAF come in 5x higher than gifts made by credit card. Part of that comes down to how DAFs work — donors invest money into the fund ahead of time and let it grow, so a gift through a DAF can be larger than what's feasible straight off a debit or credit card in the moment. Wounded Warrior Project has experienced a similar pattern, with DAFs being one of the fastest\-growing revenue lines for the organization. For nonprofits new to DAFs, check out [Chariot's DAF primer](https://www.givechariot.com/resources/insights/donor-advised-funds-101-what-every-nonprofit-needs-to-know) for an intro to DAFs and the [DAF Fundraising Report](https://www.givechariot.com/resources/toolkits/daf-fundraising-report) for a fuller data picture on DAF\-driven revenue. ## 2. What is a DAF Champion? A DAF Champion is the person who takes ownership of prioritizing DAFs within their organization. This can show up in many ways: championing DAF strategy internally, educating colleagues and donors on how DAFs work, and building the systems that make it easy for donors to give through one. DAF champions can also focus on education outside of work, explaining the benefits of DAF gifts to their community. The goal of a champion is to build team\-wide advocacy and excitement for a DAF fundraising strategy, since a DAF strategy can rarely be managed by one person. Enabling donors to give through a DAF online means looping in IT for the integration work; communicating that option clearly to donors means looping in marketing; and reconciling gifts as they arrive means looping in finance. All teams need to have proper education and buy in for the strategy to run smoothly. > "We wanted to make everyone understand that the DAF champion is an opportunity for each and every one of them. It's not just for a team. It's not just for a person. It's for everyone, not just in fundraising, but across the organization.” ## 3. Get Started as a DAF Champion - **Learn the basics of how DAFs work.** Get comfortable with what a DAF is and how gifts flow from a donor's account to your organization. For those totally new to the space, check out [Chariot’s DAF 101](https://www.givechariot.com/resources/insights/donor-advised-funds-101-what-every-nonprofit-needs-to-know), The [2026 DAF Fundraising Report](https://www.givechariot.com/resources/toolkits/daf-fundraising-report), and [Chariot’s Resource Page.](https://www.givechariot.com/resources/insights) - **Share what you learn with your team.** DAF strategy works best when it's not just one person's knowledge — loop in colleagues early. - **Look into your donor data to find potential DAF donors.** Some of your existing supporters likely already hold a DAF you don't know about. For more recommendations on DAF Data, read [*Curing Your DAF Data*](https://www.givechariot.com/resources/webinars/curing-your-daf-data) - **Make sure your organization's info is accurate with DAF sponsors.** Sponsors often pull your address and payment details from the IRS database – confirm it's correct. - **Keep your EIN easy to find on your website.** Donors searching for you by EIN should be able to find it without digging. - **Build a dedicated DAF ways\-to\-give page.** Highlight DAF giving on your website by adding it to your ways\-to\-give\-page or building its own dedicated page. - **Ask your fundraising platform whether DAFpay is already built in.** Many platforms already have DAFpay built in, giving donors an easy way to give via their DAF during the check out process. [Find out more](https://www.givechariot.com/dafpay) - **Use DAF Day to encourage DAF Donations.** Sign up for [**DAF Day III,**](https://www.dafday.com/) taking place on October 8, 2026. Set your preferred DAF giving URL and logo in your Chariot account so donors landing on your DAF Day giving page see the right information. Read our help article [**here**](https://help.givechariot.com/daf-day/daf-day?__hstc=125968786.0abc4443a43b77c5cea18fee8a9a4266.1785950363811.1787750217779.1787772370638.11&__hssc=125968786.1.1787772370638&__hsfp=ab71b3ad896ccf3857008f29318a39e0#daf-day-giving-page) for more details. - **Join the **[**DAF Day Website.**](https://dafday.com/nonprofits) Claim your Chariot account and add your giving link to join the Giving page ## 4. Webinar Q&A **We've never done anything for DAF Day before. With limited time left, what's one thing we could still pull off?** Start small rather than skipping it entirely. The [DAF Day toolkit](https://dafday.com/) has ready\-made templates you can move on quickly — even a single email to your list or one social post is enough to give the day a purpose for your organization this year. **We're a very small organization — how do we get our board, advisory board, and junior board bought into a DAF approach?** Use DAF Day itself as the occasion. Having an actual date on the calendar gives you a natural reason to bring it up, and the [DAF Day toolkit](https://dafday.com/) has resources built for exactly this kind of internal conversation. Read the recap of our recent webinar, [*DAF Fundraising for Smaller Nonprofits,*](https://www.givechariot.com/resources/webinars/daf-fundraising-for-smaller-nonprofits) for more information. **Can DAF grants be recurring?** Yes — a large share of DAF grants already are. Several sponsors report on this in their own annual data; Fidelity Charitable and DAFgiving360 \(formerly Schwab Charitable\) both publish recurring\-grant figures. **Is a DAF essentially an investment account for charitable giving?** That's a good way to think about it. The same way a 401\(k\) builds habits around saving, a DAF builds habits around giving — donors set money aside for giving specifically, and it can grow before it's granted out. **Can a donor choose what their DAF invests in?** It depends on the sponsor and the size of the account. Larger accounts, in particular, typically come with more choice over how the funds are invested while they sit in the DAF. **Is this available to charities outside the US, like in Canada?** Not yet — Chariot's tools are US\-only today, though that's an area expected to expand over time. **Would DAFs be a good giving vehicle for younger donors, like young alumni?** Yes, Rebecca Jacobs sees this play out with next\-generation donors at Charityvest already. “I think a donor\-advised fund is a really great educational tool for somebody new to philanthropy — it's an opportunity to create a sense of identity with their giving, to think about it holistically rather than just the individual moment of generosity. It's a really easy entry point, especially if you're not in a major\-donor giving phase yet, to start thinking about your giving for the long term.” **What's a good starting list of DAF sponsors with no minimum to open an account?** Daffy, Charityvest, Fidelity Charitable, DAFgiving360, and GoFundMe Giving Funds were all named as examples that don't require a minimum account size. **Should donors use DAFs to give to capital campaigns?** Wherever it's permitted, yes — donors should generally default to their DAF for any gift it can cover, since those funds have already been set aside for giving. **What exactly is DAFpay?** It's a payment option nonprofits can add to their donation forms that lets a donor check out directly with their DAF. It's already built into more than 80 fundraising platforms, so it's worth asking your existing donation form provider whether it's available before looking at anything else. **If we're set up with Chariot and DAFpay, is there anything else we need to do to actually receive funds?** Not much — once gifts are delivered to your Chariot account, the main thing is going in to transfer them to your connected bank account. The gift data arrives already reconciled and standardized, which makes that transfer straightforward for accounting and finance. **Is there a cost difference between adding DAFpay as a payment option on our donation form versus a standalone DAF button on our ways\-to\-give page?** Yes — the payment\-option version inside your existing donation form doesn't carry any upfront subscription cost. A standalone button on your ways\-to\-give page, separate from your form, comes bundled with a Chariot subscription. Worth a direct conversation with Chariot about which setup fits your situation. **We receive DAF gifts through several different donation portals via ACH, especially as companies move away from mailing checks. Is there a way to manage all of that in one place?** Yes — this is exactly what Chariot's [Gift Processing](https://www.givechariot.com/gift-processing) platform is built for, consolidating gifts arriving through multiple channels into one reconciled view. **Where can I find data backing up how much DAF giving has grown?** The [DAF Fundraising Report](https://www.givechariot.com/resources/toolkits/daf-fundraising-report) is the best single resource for this — it pulls together data across sponsors rather than relying on any one organization's internal numbers. **Is there guidance scaled specifically for smaller nonprofits, not just larger organizations with dedicated fundraising teams?** Yes — Chariot has a resource specifically on [DAF fundraising for smaller nonprofits](https://www.givechariot.com/resources/webinars/daf-fundraising-for-smaller-nonprofits) that's worth a look if your team is lean.