10 Reasons Your Nonprofit Should Participate in DAF Day 2025

In a year of unprecedented humanitarian crises and devastating funding cuts, leveraging fresh ways to fund your mission is vitally important. Whether your nonprofit’s DAF strategy could use a boost or you’ve yet to invest in one, consider DAF Day the perfect opportunity to tap into the power of donor advised funds and your community’s passion—all at once.

What is DAF Day?

DAF Day is a national day of giving with donor advised funds. This sector-wide giving day creates a shared moment to activate the potential of donor advised funds among your supporters everywhere. This year, DAF Day takes place on October 9, 2025. Mark your calendar.

DAF Day was created in 2024 by Chariot alongside a collaborative group of leading nonprofits, DAF providers and fundraising platforms. After a successful debut, the Chariot team is leading the effort again this year to drive record DAF giving. 

Why DAF Day? 10 reasons to start your campaign today

Discover why your nonprofit should join in for DAF Day 2025 in this roundup of DAF Day benefits, resources, and successes.

1. Donors give 2x once they use a DAF 

Could you imagine what your organization could accomplish if your donors gave double? According to the DAF Fundraising Report, donors give twice as much to causes they love once they use a DAF.

DAF donors are passionate givers. They opened an exclusive account for supporting nonprofits, after all. DAF Day is a great way to inspire these advocates to stand up for your mission by giving and asking others to join them.

2. We’re not talking about DAFs enough

While everyone could be using a DAF to increase their giving, there’s an estimated 3 million people currently using a DAF. Comparing that to the 70 million people with a 401k, there’s so many more people who could benefit from a DAF. Now is the time to let donors know they can invest in giving, too! 

Do you talk about DAFs with your donors? If you don’t have a comprehensive DAF fundraising strategy, you’re not alone. Although DAFs are a proven method to supercharge donor giving, just 42 percent of nonprofits still don’t mention DAFs in their donor communications and marketing—but not for long. DAF Day shines a bright light on the power of DAFs and unites nonprofits, DAFs, and donors around harnessing it on October 9th and beyond.

3. Last year’s DAF Day exceeded expectations

The first-ever DAF Day proves that nonprofits can raise more DAF gifts just by talking about them. From sky-high engagement to record DAF gifts, here’s a snapshot of DAF Day’s Year One successes:

• 1,200+ participating organizations 
• 20,000+ web visitors in 10 weeks 
• Press coverage in Forbes, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and more
• Komen raised $267,000 in DAF gifts in one day 
• Daffy’s weekly account openings increased by 40 percent

DAF Day is a perfect starting point for a renewed organizational commitment to growing DAF giving. As last year’s numbers show, the nonprofit sector is embracing the momentum of philanthropy’s most powerful untapped resource, and we’ve only just begun. Join the movement now.  

4. DAF Day is completely free to join

Participating in DAF Day is free – and there’s no wrong way to participate other than not doing anything!

5. Your DAF Day campaign is almost done

A winning DAF Day campaign accomplishes two things—it educates non-DAF holders about DAFs and asks existing DAF donors to give together. With Q4 around the corner, the idea of taking on another campaign could feel like a tall order, but fortunately, you can access a ready-made DAF Day campaign for free. 

The DAF Day Marketing Toolkit is packed with marketing assets that you can adapt to your organization’s DAF Day campaign. It includes:

• Brand elements and guidelines
• Email copy
• DAF Day web page templates
• Social media assets 

You’ll also find a timeline from now until October 9th to help you and your team organize around campaign milestones. Get your copy here.

6. Grow your DAF donor community

At this very moment, only 17 percent of US adults know what a DAF is. That means you have an enormous opportunity with your community of supporters. Chances are, many of your digital donors would gladly give via DAF if they knew it was an option. DAF Day is your chance to tell them all about it. 

Encourage donors to invest in their philanthropic impact, just like they invest in retirement. Find stats, helpful info, and social posts to share with your donors this year using these free resources:

• DAF Day Marketing Toolkit: timelines, tips, and social media templates
• Get a DAF Guide: a 101 resource for donors on how to get a DAF account
• DAF Day homepage: DAF Day info, set a reminder, and more

7. Bring a social aspect to your DAF fundraising efforts

DAF Day is changing the DAF experience from an isolated mode of philanthropy to a communal one that thrives on conversation and lights up social media. On October 9th, we’re going to show the world what DAFs can do and inspire people in our networks to DAF along with us.  

This year, DAF Day is heralding two powerful messages:

1. What will your DAF do?:  This statement makes DAF Day personal to your donors by encouraging them to show their power as both a DAF giver and passionate community member. It also applies to all supporters—people who already give with a DAF and those who could start using one now!How to use it: Ask donors to answer this question on social media. They can share their reasons for giving, add a selfie, invite their friends to join in, and tag your organization.
2. Give bigger, Give better, Give together: This message demonstrates the collective power DAF donors display on DAF Day. With a DAF, donors can give larger gifts, respond in the moment with funds reserved for philanthropy, and relish in the strength of giving as part of a nationwide community of donors.How to use it: Each of these statements has an incredible story. Discover the DAF stats and facts to pair with them and share with donors on the DAF Day homepage.

8. Gain free DAF training for your entire staff

DAF Day webinars feature nonprofit industry leaders discussing all things DAFs and DAF Day. These conversations serve as can’t-miss training sessions to get your donors and board members set to make October 9th a noteworthy success. 

See this year’s full training lineup and save your spot here.

9. Empower DAF donors to give in just three clicks

Did you know that there’s a payment option for DAF giving called DAFpay? It’s like an “ApplePay for DAFs” that lets donors give from their DAF right on the donation form or webpage where they’re inspired to give – in just a few seconds – without ever leaving the page. 

There’s two free ways to make sure your supporters can use DAFpay on DAF Day:

• Check if your current fundraising platform offers DAFpay as an available payment option. If not, request the integration and see if they can add the feature in time for DAF day.
• Get verified on the DAF Day Giving Page by claiming your Chariot Account*. DAF donors giving through this platform will be able to see every organization that has completed Chariot’s compliance verification and support them through DAFpay in 3 clicks.   

Best of all, DAFpay gifts come with a donor’s name and email, so you can thank donors in real time and re-engage them whenever you like. Bolster your digital fundraising strategy DAFpay now so you don’t miss any early DAF Day gifts.

10. Make your campaign an overall DAF strategy kickoff

Q4 is fast approaching, so now is the perfect time to consider how you plan to accelerate fundraising in the coming weeks. DAF Day gives your nonprofit a unique opportunity to boost your donor advised fund marketing strategy through an organization-wide initiative. 

Turn DAF giving into a regular occasion with a year-round fundraising strategy that reaches every donor. Your DAF Day participation can equip your team with benchmark data so you can track DAF giving growth through year-end and set goals for 2026.

Don’t wait—DAF Day starts now

With the buzz of DAF Day well underway, participating nonprofits are seeing DAF donations rolling in before the big day. Their advice? Check these quick to-dos off your list today:

#1. Get verified

Claim your organization’s Chariot Account to be verified* on the DAF Day giving page. This page lets donors know that your DAF-eligible organization passed Chariot’s industry-leading compliance checks. Get verified now.

#2. Download the DAF Day Marketing Toolkit

Rally donors with plug-and-play DAF Day promotional materials, including templates, logos, timelines, and checklists. Get the toolkit.

#3. Sign up for training

Learn proven strategies and helpful tips based on last year’s lessons and successes. Save your spot for these expert-led sessions now. Register here.

#4. Spread the word

Anyone can be a DAF Day champion, regardless of your role. Take the lead by sharing your copy of the toolkit across departments, inviting colleagues to sign up for DAF Day training, and asking supporters to consider getting a DAF well before the big day.

About the author: 

Mitch Stein is the Head of Strategy at Chariot, the Donor Advised Fund payments company. He leads the company’s major sector-wide initiatives like The DAF Fundraising Report, DAF Day and has been a featured speaker at dozens of conferences and workshops. Prior to joining Chariot, he founded a nonprofit technology company called Pond, which was a marketplace to connect nonprofits with the best vendors for their needs. Before that, he was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs for 7 years, most recently serving as a Vice President in the Technology Banking team.

He is an avid nonprofit fundraiser, serving on the board of The NYC LGBT Center and a longtime rider on Cycle for the Cause, The Northeast AIDS Ride. 

*Chariot runs an industry-leading compliance program and your verification signals to potential DAF donors that not only is your organization DAF eligible, but also that a verified Control Person with validated identity is engaged to utilize the donation promptly & effectively. Chariot accounts also all include a Chariot Deposit Account (CDA)** to receive rapid, data-rich grant payments from participating DAF providers.

**Chariot is a financial technology company, not a bank. Chariot Deposit Accounts are a Demand Deposit Account through our banking services partner, Column, N.A., Member FDIC. Deposits in Chariot Deposit Accounts are eligible for FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per depositor, for each insurable capacity in which the account is held.

 

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