Philanthropic planning is getting its own professional credential as new evidence indicates donor-advised funds have officially become a mainstream force in Americans' charitable giving.
On Tuesday, The American College of Financial Services announced the launch of the Donor-Advised Fund Certified Professional (DAFCP) designation, a 30-hour online program built to give financial advisors, nonprofit staff, and philanthropic practitioners a shared foundation in how donor-advised funds work from formation through grantmaking.
The College says there are no prerequisites for the coursework, set to begin on September 1, with learners able to finish in as few as eight weeks.
The designation lands at a moment when the numbers behind donor-advised funds are becoming harder for advisors to ignore. DAFgiving360, one of the largest national DAF providers, revealed Tuesday that donors on its platform have granted more than $10 billion to charities in the fiscal year 2026 ended in June. That marks a 22% increase over the prior year and the first time the organization has crossed that threshold.
“The volume of consistent granting we witnessed from our donors this year exemplifies what donor-advised funds make possible, and it reflects how deeply our donors are engaged in their philanthropy year-round,” said Julie Sunwoo, president of DAFgiving360.
Across the broader industry, the most recent data from the Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative, drawing on IRS Form 990 data across nearly 1,500 US DAF sponsors, found that national DAF grantmaking reached $64.60 billion in fiscal year 2024, up 19% year over year, while total DAF assets grew 27.5% to $326.45 billion.
Paul M. Caspersen, program director for the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation and the new DAFCP credential at The American College of Financial Services, said the the designation "closes a critical knowledge gap and gives advisors the expertise to optimize giving at scale," particularly when working with wealthier clients.
Donor-advised funds "involve highly complex planning considerations, and financial advisors need specialized knowledge to serve clients, especially high-net-worth individuals, who expect proficiency in this area," Caspersen said.
Unlike existing continuing-education options that tend to treat DAFs as a single topic, the DAFCP curriculum is structured across six modules covering fundamentals, tax treatment, gift acceptance, investing and grantmaking, estate integration, and ethics and compliance – including recent changes introduced by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
George Nichols III, president and CEO of The American College of Financial Services, framed the designation as a way for advisors to stand apart in a fast-growing niche. The credential, he said, will "help advisors stand out as specialists in a fast-growing area of financial services, so they can strengthen client relationships and market-proof their practices."
The DAFgiving360 figures give advisors a clearer picture of how donor-advised fund clients actually behave once an account is funded.
Donors on the platform recommended more than 1.6 million grants in fiscal 2026, a pace of roughly 4,300 grants per day and a 21% increase year over year. Nearly 40% of those grants were set up as recurring, and grantmaking held steady across all 12 months rather than clustering around year-end, with December, November, October, January and May the busiest months.
Non-cash assets made up an outsized share of contributions. DAFgiving360 reported that 73% of dollars contributed came from assets other than cash – including appreciated stock, pre- and post-IPO shares, and private business interests – with 82% of its donors contributing at least one non-cash asset during the year.
Donating appreciated securities directly, rather than selling first, can let donors avoid capital gains tax on the transferred asset while still claiming a fair-market-value deduction, a strategy that advisors routinely raise with clients holding concentrated stock positions.
"Whether driven by market appreciation, concentrated stock positions, business ownership, or liquidity events, many investors today hold appreciated assets that can be used to support charitable goals in a highly tax-efficient way," Sunwoo said. "For advisors, this presents an opportunity to deepen client relationships by helping clients achieve both philanthropic and financial objectives."
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