Charitable giving in the US is huge – in 2023 more than $557 billion was donated by individuals, foundations, and businesses in 2023 according to the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy – and making it easier is big business.
For Foundation Source, a leading provider of management solutions for private foundations, being able to offer a comprehensive suite that includes tools to streamline and manage philanthropy is important, and it’s made a strategic acquisition to prove it.
The firm has announced this morning (Oct. 17) that it has acquired Vennfi, the fintech that powers donor-advised funds sponsor Charityvest, to enhance innovation and growth to seize opportunities in the philanthropic sector.
“Broadly speaking, the acquisition means that Foundation Source can now offer a technology-enabled administrative solution for DAFs,” CEO Joseph Mrak told InvestmentNews. “It’s an important milestone that makes Foundation Source the only 'PhilTech' provider to deliver scalable, end-to-end digital solutions across private foundations, planned giving, and donor-advised funds, at the individual and enterprise levels. We can help our clients meaningfully streamline their philanthropic capabilities with the best technology and expertise in market.”
Growth area
Philanthropy is a growth area between financial advisors and their clients, especially those with significant wealth, but Mrak says that advisors are not deploying "philtech" to the same degree that they do for the investment side.
This is notable given the increased demands of younger investors who often want a broader range of wealth management options beyond traditional investing and a more rounded advisory offering from the financial professionals they choose to work with.
“We polled 1000 Gen Z and Millennials about charitable giving and found that 87 percent of Millennial and 71 percent of Gen Z respondents made a financial donation in the past year,” Mrak said. “They started engaging in charitable activities at a younger age than older generations and envision growing their charitable footprint in the future.”
The acquisition of Vennfi will expand the capabilities of Foundation Source and accelerate the delivery of giving solutions across the wealth management industry through a turnkey private label DAF platform tailored for independent RIAs and a workplace program that allows employers to streamline corporate and employee giving efforts.
The management team of Vennfi, led by Stephen Kump, will join Foundation Source, contributing their expertise and insights.
“After a highly collaborative and exploratory process over many months, it became clear that, together, we can catalyze more giving by making it more accessible, secure, and efficient for more people,” Kump said. “We are enormously excited to join the Foundation Source team to unlock even more purposeful giving in the years ahead.”
Charityvest, a 501(c)(3) public charity and donor advised fund sponsoring organization, will remain as in independent entity with its own board of directors, while Foundation Source technology (including the enhanced capabilities from the Vennfi acquisition) will power the Charityvest DAF program, the turnkey DAF platform for RIAs, and the workplace giving program.
“We will harness the DAF functionality to accelerate the delivery of giving solutions across the wealth management industry through a turnkey private label platform that will make offering and administering a donor-advised fund easier and more efficient for DAF sponsors, broker-dealers, independent RIAs and other financial services organizations,” said Mrak.
Future expansion
Foundation Source will be considering how the new tech at its disposal will sit within its wider range of solutions, and Mrak said that there are some exciting plans for the future.
“In the long term, our goal is to have a single dashboard where our enterprise partners, advisors and end customers can see all their charitable activity,” he said. “And we will continue to explore synergies and create new products that will enable us to expand our footprint in the philanthropic space.”
Foundation Source made another key acquisition earlier this year, picking up PG Calc in February. Mrak said that bringing the combined capabilities of these three companies together under one roof is intended to deliver best-in-class experience for philanthropists and the broader charitable giving ecosystem.
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