2014 Urban Institute Survey of Community Foundations
On May 30, 2014, the Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy conducted a survey of donor-advised funds (DAFs) operated by community foundations. All community foundations with total assets of $5 million or more were invited to take the survey. When the survey closed on June 20, we'd received complete or partial responses from 328 of the 607 eligible foundations. The results reported here are based on the 269 foundations (44.3%) that responded to most of the required questions on the survey.
At a time when donor-advised funds are growing in popularity and awarding many grants that support community programs, this research is designed to understand current practices, identify the extent of exemplary practices, and inform the community foundation field on their collective individual and collective use of this giving tool.
Survey Findings:
- Overview - Read a brief description of the survey methods and findings.
- Local Stories - Different community foundations use DAFs in different ways, read stories about how they are used in your state.
- National Impact of DAFs - Download a two-page PDF that outlines the national impact of DAFs.
- Webinar Recording - View the recording of a webinar where we presented what we learned from the survey and why it matters.
