+ ABOUT DONOR ADVISED FUNDS >>
At iGiftFund, statements will be posted in your DonorView portal with email notification.
- We will issue you quarterly statements that summarize the activity and balance of your fund.
- You will receive an acknowledgement for all contributions made to your account. This letter also serves as your receipt for tax purposes.
- You will receive a copy of each grant transmittal letter that accompanies the grant check we mail to the charity.
iGiftFund can accept a wide range of assets. These include:
- Cash
- Publicly traded securities including stocks, bonds, mutual fund shares
- Restricted and controlled stock
- Privately-held securities (C-corp or S-corp shares, LLCs, LPs)
- Real estate
- Life insurance policies
- Private foundation grants or terminations
- Bequests
- The named beneficiary of a charitable remainder trust or a charitable lead trust
- The named beneficiary of an IRA, 401(k), or other retirement account
- Tangible and intangible personal property
Tax regulations vary by the type of asset, and are subject to change. Call us if we can help in the initial planning of your contribution. We will work with you and your trusted advisors. Our experience (particularly with accepting and holding complex and hard-to-value assets) is among the longest in the industry.
You create an investment program that’s tailored to your individual goals and objectives. iGiftFund works with all custodial platforms. Each investment account is separate and can be individually managed on your familiar investment platform. You may recommend your trusted financial advisor to manage investments, in open architecture, either on a brokerage (transactional) basis or on a managed account (fee) basis, subject to iGiftFund’s flexible investment guidelines.
Yes. Your account assets can be split between multiple successors. Or, you can have your successors share in the advising responsibilities. Your successor advisors can also name their own successor advisors. We offer several creative ways in which your donor advised fund can continue in perpetuity.
Yes. You can name them as an advisor, contingent advisor, or successor advisor to your fund. We are somewhat unique in allowing children and grandchildren as young as eight years, to participate “under your direction.” This is an excellent way to teach children family values and prepare them to become successful, responsible and caring adults.
At iGiftFund, most funds can be established in a day. Once you submit a completed donor application and contribution form, your account is established and ready to receive contributions. Many donors send a check along with the application. If you want your financial advisor to be involved, have the advisor contact us to coordinate the gift acceptance, asset transfer process and investments.
Yes. You have maximum flexibility in naming your fund. Most donors choose a name that reflects the family name, such as “The Jones Family Charitable Fund” or “The Jones Family Foundation.” You may also select a name that enables you and your family to remain anonymous.
There is no minimum balance for a donor advised fund. However, there is a minimum administrative fee of $600.
To start a donor advised fund with iGiftFund, you’ll need to make a contribution of $5,000 or more. Once your account is established, you and others can make subsequent contributions of $1,000 or more. Please note, you may set up a donor advised fund now but fund it later; for example, as part of your overall estate plan.
Individuals, families, companies, foundations, trusts, and other entities can start a donor advised fund account by completing a simple application and contributing assets. Many people open charitable gift funds for their year-end tax planning and charitable gift-giving.
A Donor Advised Fund can be a solution for anyone who:
- Is experiencing an extraordinarily high-income year.
- Will be selling a highly appreciated asset in the near future (publicly traded securities, complex assets like C-corp and S-corp shares, real estate, etc.).
- Wants to support several charities through one substantial gift.
- Wants maximum flexibility to change the charitable beneficiaries over time.
- Wants to involve a spouse, children and grandchildren in charitable giving.
- Makes cash gifts to numerous charities but would benefit by giving appreciated assets.
- Experiences fluctuating income but wants to maintain a steady level of giving.
- Is concerned about the complexity of a private foundation and lack of privacy.
- Wants to support a charity but is not confident with the organization’s investment management capability.
- Wants to keep his or her charitable giving confidential.
- Wishes to support a particular charity but wants to ensure that the gift is used as he or she intended.
- Wants to make year-end tax planning and charitable giving easy.
Donor advised funds, or charitable gift funds, provide numerous benefits to the donor:
- Donors enjoy the maximum income tax deduction.
- Donors avoid capital gains and estate taxes and, assets grow tax-free.
- Donors can manage their charitable giving similar to a private foundation but without all the cost, regulatory headaches and paperwork.
- The fund handles oversight and administration including gift acceptance, grant processing, recordkeeping, compliance and tax reporting.
- The donor decides whether to keep their charitable giving private or allow it to be acknowledged.
Donor advised funds are charitable-giving vehicles that provide simple, tax-smart and meaningful ways to make charitable giving easier. The donor enjoys immediate and maximum tax advantages but can make grants on a flexible timetable. Similar to a charitable investment account, donor advised funds are sometimes called charitable gift funds.
Donor advised funds are much easier to establish than other planned giving vehicles such as private foundations, charitable trusts and supporting organizations. The process for establishing a Donor Advised Fund is outlined below:
- Contact a donor advised fund sponsor such as iGiftFund to set up a fund.
- Contribute assets to the fund using a wide range of assets including cash, stock or real estate. In return for your contribution, you will receive immediate and maximum tax benefits.
- Donors can recommend their financial advisor to manage investments in the fund.
- Donors can recommend grants on a flexible timetable.
- Donors can pass along their family values to future generations by involving children and grandchildren in the granting processing.
+ ABOUT iGiftFund >>
Yes, we are recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt public charity under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). You can deduct contributions made to your fund under Section 170 of the Code. Our IRS tax identification number is: 81-2576201.
As pioneers of the independentdonor advised fund experience, we offer a donor experience not typically found in today’s market place for donor advised funds including:
- Sponsor Focus
- Community Foundations – The needs of the local community
- National Commercial Sponsors – Financial products and services, for profit motive
- Single-issue Charities –The charity’s mission
- iGiftFund – The donor’s philanthropic interests
- Independence–iGiftFund:With no pools, no products or services to sell and no philanthropic agenda, iGiftFund’s focus is entirely on the philanthropic interests of the donor.
- The Donor Experience–iGiftFund:Does not operate a call center. You have ready access to iGiftFund’s principals and staff with the longest experience in the donor advised funds industry.
- Affordability – iGiftFund: Has the lowest administrative fees in the industry with savings of 25% to 50% or more compared to other national sponsors. For example, iGiftFund’s administrative fee schedule starts at just 0.45% (45 bps) on the first $500,000 of the fund balance. Other sponsors start at 0.60% (60 bps), or more.
- Investment choice– iGiftFund: Does not manage investments. Donors can recommend their financial advisor, as broker or in a managed account relationship, to manage their fund’s investments in open architecture, at all fund size levels, on your familiar platform. Assets types can be held in kind. Donors keep their relationship with their trusted advisor.
- Fund options– iGiftFund: Unlike commercial sponsors, iGiftFund is organized as a national community foundation. In addition to DAFs, we offer a full range of donor fund options which can be tailored to the donor’s unique needs including: designated funds, field-of-interest funds, unrestricted funds, scholarship funds, charity endowment funds, etc. Note: These latter funds are not considered donor advised funds, and as such are eligible to receive Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) at age 70½ and count toward the donor’s’ RMDs at age 72.
- Systems – iGiftFund: Partners with the most advanced donor system in the industry, Stellar Technologies Solutions, LLC, to provide a level of systems support equal to or better than the national commercial sponsors.
+ DONOR ADVISED FUND GUIDELINES >>
Anyone can make tax-deductible charitable contributions to your fund. Contributions are tax-deductible for the donor and must meet the criteria outlined in the Program Description and Guidelines.
You can designate one or more charitable organizations as charitable beneficiaries. Or, you can distribute the account’s assets in perpetuity in your name. If you don’t select either option, iGiftFund will annually distribute 5% of your account’s balance to the charitable organizations that reasonably best matches your grant history and intent.
Yes. You will receive a written confirmation of your contribution(s). This confirmation serves as a receipt for your taxes. It will also be available in your DonorView portal.
You must file Form 8283, with iGiftFund’s signed acknowledgement, if the amount of your deduction for all noncash gifts is more than $5,000 (except certain publicly traded securities). Blank forms and instructions can be obtained from the IRS website through this link. If iGiftFund disposes of those assets within three years of the date of your contribution, iGiftFund will prepare Form 8282 and submit it to the IRS.
Yes, but typically the transfer will trigger a taxable event. Consult your tax advisor first.
Yes, you can donate your traditional IRA, 401(k), and some other tax-deferred assets to a donor advised fund account upon death by way of a beneficiary designation.
+ GRANTING GIFTS FROM YOUR DAF >>
Yes, you will receive a copy of the grant transmittal letter in the DonorViewportal.
iGiftFund sends the grant to the recommended charity via check.
Many do, please consult with your employer.
Yes, please call us for details.
iGiftFund typically processes grants in 5 business days or less.
iGiftFund’s minimum grant amount is $100.
You can make an unlimited number of grants from your fund, provided that there are sufficient funds. Additional fees may apply to high-volume grant-making.
If you have not made grant recommendations for three years, iGiftFund will make every effort to contact you or your advisor(s) to request that a recommendation be made.
Yes. If you request anonymity on the Grant Recommendation Form, iGiftFund will make the grant without disclosing your identity to the grantee organization. This can be done selectively or for all grants.
You have two options for using your donor advised fund to support charities outside the U.S. You can recommend a grant to an American charity that works overseas, or you can recommend a grant to a qualified American intermediary charity that will, in turn, make a grant to your preferred organization. Contact us for information regarding qualified intermediary charities and fees.
Submitting a grant recommendation to iGiftFund is easy. If you keep the following in mind, you can help minimize processing delays: A grant must be recommended exclusively for charitable purposes. Among other things, this means that you cannotrecommend:
- A grant to a non-charitable organization
- A grant from which you or your family would receive an impermissible benefit
- A grant for admission to a charitable event if, in exchange for the grant, goods or services will be provided to you or anyone else
- A grant for a specified tuition payment or for a scholarship where the donor(s) or related parties have sole or majority discretion over the recipients
- A grant to cover the cost of memberships where “more than incidental benefits” will be received
- A grant to an individual
- A grant to satisfy a pre-existing pledge
- A grant to political contributions, or to support political campaign activities
iGiftFund will make grants to IRS-recognized public charities. iGiftFund maintains a database of these qualified charities that includes the most up-to-date information from the IRS.
If an organization is not currently listed in our database, this does not necessarily mean that a grant cannot be made to the organization. However, it will require further review. If you don’t find your organization in the DonorView portal, please submit the organization’s contact information: phone number, website URL, physical address, etc.
At iGiftFund, you can recommend grants online when logged in to your account in the DonorView portal, or you may download a grant recommendation form, which you can complete and then email, mail, or fax to iGiftFund.
+ TAX BENEFITS >>
Tax laws for donor advised funds require that you relinquish ownership and control over contributed assets. However, as a donor advisor, you retain the privilege to advise iGiftFund on: how your fund is named, how the funds are invested, how the funds are granted, and how your fund will carry on after your death. “Advising,” in contrast to “directing,” is the key to your receiving superior tax benefits.
This difference is typically due to interim market fluctuations and liquidation costs. Consult your tax advisor to determine your charitable tax deduction.
No.
Since iGiftFund is a public charity, you pay no capital gains tax on the securities that you contribute to your donor advised fund. We typically pay no capital gains tax when we sell gifted securities.
Yes. We have extensive experience in accepting complex and hard-to-value assets. Please contact us early in your planning process. Our experience in accepting complex assets is among the longest in the industry. Partnering with the leading organization in the country in processing gifts of complex assets, we will work with you and your trusted advisors to coordinate asset transfers and gift acceptance.
Because of iGiftFund’s public charity status, your contributions qualify for the highest tax benefits available:
- You receive an immediate and maximum income tax deduction.
- You avoid capital gains tax.
- Your fund is not subject to estate taxes.
- Assets in your fund can grow tax free.
- If you are subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), your contribution may reduce your AMT tax liability.
- Under the “CARES Act” of 2020, donors can receive increased tax benefits for cash contributions up to 100% of AGI for contributions to funds sponsored by iGiftFund other than a donor advised fund. This deduction can be enhanced by a Roth IRA conversion.
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