Trends in charitable giving: How today’s donors support causes

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are increasingly transforming how individuals and families give to charity.

DAF accounts permit donors to consolidate and manage their philanthropic activities in a single platform—and leave administrative responsibilities, such as recordkeeping and charity vetting, to the DAF sponsoring organization. Meanwhile, contributed assets have the potential to grow tax-free over time.

These unique capabilities are steadily transforming both how clients give and the overall philanthropy landscape.

These trends are confirmed by recent data from J.P. Morgan’s own DAF program—the J.P. Morgan Charitable Giving Fund (CGF). For example, since 2020, our DAF program has seen:

• The average client account size increase by 25%, reflecting strong engagement from larger donors
• The median account size decrease by 17%, confirming the program’s accessibility and adoption by donors of all wealth levels
• A 76% increase in active client accounts and a 121% increase in the combined asset value of all those accounts

This stepped-up client participation also reflects our DAF program’s ability to satisfy wide-ranging client objectives: from engaging next-gen donors and unlocking the value of illiquid assets to streamlining regulatory compliance and simplifying administrative tasks.

Much of this progress stems directly from J.P. Morgan’s successful collaboration with National Philanthropic Trust (NPT)¹, an independent public charity that facilitates the administration and distribution of the J.P. Morgan CGF.

Moreover, as individuals and families increasingly turn to DAF accounts to support their philanthropic interests, these four key program capabilities continue to evolve:

1. Non-traditional sources of charitable capital are being unlocked

Over the last five years, there’s been a threefold increase in contributions to clients’ DAF accounts, most notably with assets that might otherwise remain untapped for philanthropy: In 2024, publicly traded securities accounted for 90% of the total number of contributions made.

Notably, such non-cash assets, when contributed to a DAF account, present an opportunity for clients to leverage market conditions for greater philanthropic impact. For example, contributing appreciated, long-term stock in-kind—rather than liquidating shares—can offer tax advantages during periods of strong market performance.

Over the past five years, J.P. Morgan clients contributed $1.3 billion in illiquid assets to DAF accounts. Within this category, cryptocurrency donations grew significantly, and today account for the majority of illiquid asset contributions. Since 2020, the number of cryptocurrency contributions has increased by 1,242%.

2. Tax-efficient investment strategies align with donors’ complex goals

With a DAF account, clients make charitable contributions, receive an immediate tax deduction and identify the charities they wish to support at a later date. They also have choices regarding how they wish their assets to grow over time. Meanwhile, assets in their DAF account grow tax-free, making additional resources available for clients’ philanthropy.

• In the last five years, CGF assets experienced investment growth of $3 billion, reflecting strong financial market returns during this period
• The value of equities and alternative investments grew significantly over the last five years, and now represents 58% of total assets
• Even in periods of challenging market conditions, our DAF program’s portfolios demonstrated resilience, declining only 11% in 2022, compared with a 19% drop for the S&P 500
• CGFs’ investment performance compares favorably to the Grantmaker Investment Valuation (GIV) Index, a private foundation industry benchmark that tracks investment performance²

3. Structured support allows deeper donor engagement

Grants to charitable entities from clients’ DAF accounts are managed by National Philanthropic Trust. This has the additional benefit of freeing clients from administrative tasks, thereby allowing them to focus on supporting causes that matter to them. This, in turn, is helping drive donor engagement, which DAF program data indicate has been steadily rising over time:

• The average number of grants made per account increased to eight in 2024, a 20% increase over the past decade
• The value of the average grant rose 31% from 2015 to 2024. The annual payout rate for our DAF program was 21.4% in 2024

Donor giving patterns in this same 10-year period also show increased activity: Older, more established accounts tended to donate more (i.e., support more charities and make more grants) than newer accounts.

Donors’ giving strategies are also evolving. During the last decade, donors increasingly gave charities more freedom to determine how their financial gifts would be used:

• Unrestricted grants have become more common: In 2024, donors allowed charities to decide for themselves how more than 60% of total grants given through our DAF program would be used, up from just over a quarter of grants in 2015
• Recurring grant activity also increased: One in every 10 grants in 2024 involved recurring funding, representing a 371% increase over the past five years
• Anonymous giving has declined: As a share of overall grantmaking, the number and total value of anonymous grants have both contracted, representing a smaller share of overall grantmaking

4. Complex global and societal issues can be tackled

Since 2020, both the value and volume of grants—across all charitable fields of interest—have grown by double digits—keeping pace with donors’ commitment to addressing a broad spectrum of large-scale issues, such as improving community well-being and responding to global needs:

• In 2024, three sectors—education, human services and religion—received the greatest number of donor grants. Post-secondary education institutions, emergency assistance programs and hunger relief organizations ranked among the top 10 recipients by grant volume
• Donors also increasingly responded to humanitarian crises around the world, as evidenced by international donations rising 106% between 2020 and 2024

Case study example: How one family magnifies their philanthropic impact*

A married couple in California established a CGF account and funded it with contributions of highly appreciated assets, including cryptocurrency and stock. The benefits of having the account quickly accrued.

First and foremost, having a DAF allowed them to focus on making a charitable impact rather than on managing administrative hurdles, making it possible to:

• Streamline grant administration at their family’s foundation and enhance donation tracking
• Rely on assistance from DAF specialists to navigate complex regulatory requirements and successfully fund initiatives domestically as well as outside of the United States—specifically in Southeast Asia
• Take advantage of their DAF account’s custom investment options to grow their philanthropic resources

Further, the parents also created CGF accounts for each of their young-adult children to encourage them to pursue their own philanthropic interests. The children soon identified multiple organizations they wished to support and set up recurring donations to fund these groups’ efforts.

As their collective interests in philanthropy expanded, family members began meeting together to make joint grant recommendations; these were funded through their various DAF accounts as well as through their private foundation.

Taken together, these many actions successfully increased the impact of the family’s charitable contributions locally and overseas in a thoughtful and efficient way.

We can help

Over the past 25 years, donors to the J.P. Morgan CGF have been able to amplify the impact of their charitable gifts and, at the same time, more efficiently align their philanthropy with their long-term financial planning goals.

Your J.P. Morgan team can provide in-depth information about how a DAF can help enhance your impact on the causes you care most deeply about.