# DAF Day Awards Ceremony - Canonical: https://givechariot.com/resources/webinars/daf-day-awards-ceremony - Published: 2026-10-20 --- ## Announcing the DAF Day 2026 Award Winners We're excited to recognize the most creative DAF Day 2026 promotions from nonprofits and DAF sponsors across the country. More organizations joined DAF Day this year than ever before, and hundreds of them submitted their promotions for the second annual DAF Day Awards, roughly double the submissions we received last year. Our internal DAF Day working group reviewed every submission across four categories. Each winner will receive a $500 DAF grant from Chariot and a prize in the mail, and every finalist below is worth studying for ideas you can use in your own DAF outreach. **Mitch Stein, Head of Strategy at Chariot**, and **Natalie Nguyen, Marketing Lead at Chariot**, announced the winners live during our DAF Day Awards webinar on October 15 and walked through dozens of standout submissions along the way. ## DAF Day 2026 by the numbers DAF Day launched in 2024, just 10 weeks before the first DAF Day, and about 1,000 people took part that year. In its third year, the campaign has grown well beyond that. Over four months, six DAF leaders and nine nonprofit leaders were guest features on our DAF Day webinar series, and more than 5,000 people from roughly 3,500 organizations registered, with nearly 1,700 registrants for our busiest session. DAF Day website visits were about two and a half times last year's. More than 2,600 organizations used the DAF Day toolkits, and over 2,500 enrolled in the DAF Day giving page through their Chariot dashboard. Early results show about 30% growth in unique donors giving through DAFpay on DAF Day compared with last year, and we'll share full results after our participant survey closes in November. ## Category 1: Best Social Post This category recognizes the social post that best inspired followers to recommend a DAF grant. **Winner: **[**The Refugee Archive**](https://www.instagram.com/p/DeKRVbigc3J/?img_index=1) The Refugee Archive posted a series of DAF Day graphics that built momentum across channels and earned a ton of engagement. The team made our templates their own, blending the DAF Day design into their branding so smoothly that you can still spot the DAF Day arrow behind their logo. Natalie shared a tip for next year: our templates let photos take the lead, so building a library of well\-lit photos ahead of time will make them easy to use again. **Other finalists:** - [Life Pieces to Masterpieces](https://lifepieces.org/): used the "My DAF will..." template to show donors what the organization does, with strong photos of its programs - [Stop the Violence 757](https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1403512551997733&id=100070170051541): a simple anchor message, "Your DAF can change a child's future," carried consistently across its posts - [The Rashi School](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1726529752814259&set=a.457326113067969): a polished Facebook post that made the ask easy to act on - [Thrown Stone Theatre Company](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DeO8AVqDT70/): a simple Instagram reel that paired DAF messaging with footage of its work and put its EIN clearly on screen - [Food for the Hungry](https://www.facebook.com/foodforthehungry/posts/pfbid02dj7qvsmGzAh8ZNFEqPDEsxL889cnhhqF3QLoeMiKTPHDM95B7iYzZXns5wQFCtiWl): a playful take on the DAF acronym: "Donor Advised Funds = Drive Amazing Futures" - [Land is Life](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DeIN_uTOG7o/): a quantitative comparison that showed impact while keeping the focus on affected communities rather than the donor - [Bike New York](https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd9zSKvmD1v/?img_index=1): a carousel that used the "My DAF will..." framing to show several things a DAF grant could achieve - [Berkeley Food Network](https://www.instagram.com/p/DeKsxrFjSzn/?img_index=1): built its posts from scratch, highlighted its DAF Day match up front, and counted down to the day with concrete impact metrics ## Category 2: Most Compelling DAF Day Email This category recognizes the email that made the clearest, most persuasive case for a DAF grant on DAF Day. **Winner: Grounds for Sculpture** Grounds for Sculpture segmented its email list into three groups: existing DAF donors who hadn't given yet this year, its broader member and donor list with a focus on people wealth screening identified as likely high earners, and donors who had already given through a DAF. Each group got a message written for where they were, from a direct major gift ask to a more educational introduction to DAF giving. The team shared that open rates doubled for the audience most likely to have a DAF. Mitch pointed out that this kind of segmentation takes real data work, and that the effort makes every message that follows more powerful. **Other finalists:** - **United Food Bank:** animated graphics and a line that made a DAF grant concrete: "It's hard to find a meal the whole family agrees on, but it's easy to turn a DAF into someone's dinner." - **American India Foundation:** strong design, impact amounts for different gift sizes, and two clear calls to action, one to learn about DAFs and one to recommend a grant - **Yes to Youth:** a tagline we loved, "Your DAF. Their Future." - **Meals on Wheels San Antonio:** a personal note from leadership that also invited donors to share their DAF generosity publicly - **California Council on Economic Education:** a fun DAF explainer that played with the acronym - **Central Park Conservancy:** personalized imagery, a case for giving that connected DAF Day to a full year of impact, and links to the Conservancy's own DAF giving tool so gifts land on its website - **Repro Rising Virginia:** a donor quote explaining why they give through a DAF and why they support the organization - **Texas State Historical Association:** invited donors to make Texas history with their gift - **Wildlife SOS:** an email sequence with distinct messages that tied DAF Day to helping elephants, offered a match, and sent donors to a dedicated page and form - **Roca:** a countdown email sequence in its own branding, with a donor quote and simple three\-part DAF explainer graphics ## Category 3: Most Effective DAF Day Mailer This category recognizes the direct mail piece that best drove DAF donors to give. **Winner: **[**ACLU**](https://www.aclu.org/) The ACLU's mailer used QR codes that launched a DAFpay session directly, so donors could give without landing on a page and searching for a button. The mailer was part of a six\-email sequence that kept DAF Day in front of donors across channels. As one of DAF Day's original partners, the ACLU has refined its approach every year and generously shared what it has learned with other nonprofits. **Other finalists:** - [Greater DC Diaper Bank](https://greaterdcdiaperbank.org/): a branded postcard with separate QR codes for donors with and without a DAF, a match for DAF gifts running through November, and a virtual lunch and learn to build a community of DAF donors - [Easterseals](https://www.easterseals.com/): a postcard within a broader multichannel campaign that spoke to how DAF donors see themselves, with the line "smart giving, life\-changing impact" and QR codes on the back - [Habitat for Humanity International](https://www.habitat.org/): in its first year participating, postcards featuring a match named for a specific donor, plus a DAF Day magazine wrap - [Feeding Westchester](https://feedingwestchester.org/): a donor testimonial and volunteer photos, a return slip that invited donors to learn more about giving from a DAF, and a real staff contact. The team also handed the postcards to volunteers at events as a conversation starter about DAFs ## Category 4: Most Innovative DAF Day Campaign Element This category recognizes a campaign element that tried something new to engage DAF donors. **Winner: **[**National Audubon Society**](https://www.audubon.org/) About two months before DAF Day, Audubon sent a lighthearted "What bird are you?" quiz to its broad supporter list. Alongside questions about how people like to support conservation, it asked one more: "Do you have a donor\-advised fund?" The quiz surfaced 800 people in Audubon's file who said yes but had never made a DAF gift to Audubon, and the team used those answers to target its DAF Day messaging. Mitch called it the best answer he's come across to the question every nonprofit asks: how do we find our DAF donors? Congratulations to **Valerie Vierengel, Director of Mid\-Level Giving**, and the Audubon team. **Other finalists:** - [Green Amendments For The Generations](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/n_n-m_K5FYo): an explainer video that showed donors how to give with DAFpay, plus a checkout where every donor picked a hand\-drawn image to add to a collage of supporters - [The Public Theater](https://publictheater.org/): set and shared a public goal of 50 DAF donors, then sent personalized stewardship emails a few days after DAF Day telling donors what their gifts had already achieved. Hats off to **Shayla Titley, Director of Patron Programs and Services**, who led the effort - [Corner to Corner](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/wcg9hop2rglzbkdim0hjv/DAF-Step-By-Step-Guide.pdf?rlkey=e0zrdtidp4xfb0oiqmyor3qi6&st=9sl1c0eb&e=2&dl=0): a downloadable guide to opening and using a DAF, told through a staff member's own experience setting up their DAF - [Lutheran Partners in Global Ministry](https://lutheranpartners.org/news/daf-day): an original DAF Day blog post - [Springfield Rescue Mission](https://springfieldrescuemission.viewspark.org/post?id=-P3R0XaH_93Qr7MljKGu): personalized videos from staff, sent to supporters by text through ViewSpark - [Just The Pill:](https://justthepill.com/) a live DAF training session for its board - [USA for UNFPA](https://www.usaforunfpa.org/): an SMS campaign for DAF donors, which saves a step since DAF donors usually need a phone or computer to give even when they respond to mail - [IKAR](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ikar-los-angeles_a-new-daf-for-daf-day-httpslnkdin-share-7514066256933691393-n6Ih/): a play on "daf," the Hebrew word for page, with a call to turn the page right after the Jewish New Year - [Warm Heart Worldwide](https://www.warmheartworldwide.org/): a duck cartoon the team is rightly proud of - [Boys & Girls Aid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffwE8SpYiBo): a Rebecca Black "Friday" parody video that had our whole team laughing ## Standouts from DAF Sponsors DAF sponsors aren't eligible for these awards, but several went well beyond a single post this year: - [Greater Manhattan Community Foundation](https://www.facebook.com/GreaterManhattanCommunityFoundation/posts/pfbid0ggoFAh79pJA6Cd69eWRDiB798ZKDvdq7DKNHdJuYS8ZCDRs2SehD8AxBhQbKEj2Cl) in Manhattan, Kansas, ran a multichannel campaign for its fund holders built around the message "Your DAF has a job to do." - [Arizona Community Foundation](https://www.azfoundation.org/) made physical "I granted for DAF Day" stickers, modeled on "I voted" stickers, for its team and fund holders. - [Community Foundation of Greater Sacramento](https://www.instagram.com/p/DeP4E9LDYDH/?hl=en) treated DAF Day like an internal spirit day and shared a video of its staff on social. - [Ren](https://lnkd.in/p/gPigzJ5J), one of the largest DAF sponsors and platforms, posted about DAF Day for the first time, sharing key DAF Day stats on social and on its blog. - [Dallas Jewish Community Foundation](https://www.instagram.com/p/DeK1Y_rlHBR/?img_index=1) shared DAF Day posts across several channels, engaging its current fund holders while spreading the word about its DAF program. ## Questions from the audience **How can a small organization identify possible DAF support?** Mitch pointed to Audubon's quiz as a great model: ask your supporters directly, in a way that's fun and low stakes. Send it broadly, because as he put it, DAF donors are in every pocket of your file. Attendees in the chat added that educating your entire donor base goes a long way, since many donors simply need to know you welcome DAF gifts. Several organizations saw new donors arrive from DAF Day social posts and emails alone. **Should we ask donors to "give with your DAF" or "recommend a grant"?** Either is fine. Natalie explained that the best choice depends on how familiar your audience is with DAFs, so test your language and see what lands. Segmentation helps here: donors who have given through a DAF before are comfortable with "recommend a grant," while donors who are newer to DAFs may respond better to simpler language and a short explanation of how DAF giving works. ## Next Up **Experiment.** > "DAFs can sometimes be intimidating, but DAF Day is a way for you to activate, experiment, and test the waters." Mitch added that organizations of every size are experimenting with DAF giving right now, and because the space is so new, the downside of trying something is low. **Treat DAF Day as the starting line.** Mitch described giving days as helpful catalysts and deadlines, but said DAF giving is a year\-round effort: > "It's the starting line as opposed to the finish line." Natalie noted that DAF gifts can take longer to arrive than other online gifts, so measure your DAF results across the year rather than on a single day. Donors often need several layers of education, from what a DAF is to what DAF Day is to how they can give through DAFpay, and she's seen that the organizations that talk about DAFs all year tend to see the strongest response on DAF Day. If this was your first DAF Day, both agreed that getting your team organized and putting DAF messaging out there is a real win. **Weave DAF messaging into existing campaigns.** Natalie pointed out that once someone gives through a DAF, they join the rest of your donors, from mid\-level to individual giving. One or two lines about giving from a DAF in the materials you already send is already a great start. **Bring in more DAF sponsors.** Mitch highlighted the progress sponsors made this year, from Greater Manhattan Community Foundation's campaign to Ren's first DAF Day posts, and said growing proactive participation from DAF sponsors is a major priority for DAF Day 2027. In a few weeks, we'll send a survey to every participating organization so we can measure results once DAF grants have had time to arrive. Congratulations to all of this year's winners and finalists, and thank you to everyone who submitted.