New database maps Canada’s $17.3 billion DAF landscape and where philanthropic wealth is concentrated

A new database that maps Canada’s donor-advised funds (DAFs) landscape, shows that a significant share of the country’s charitable assets are concentrated in a small number of organizations.

The new database from WellFunded, is intended to make information about organizations that sponsor DAFs and the assets they manage easier to understand, said co-creator and CEO Jeff Golby.

DAFs allow donors to make charitable contributions and receive an immediate tax receipt, then, over time, recommend grants to charities through a sponsoring organization.

While the information exists through CRA filings,it can be difficult to clearly see where those funds are being held and how the sector is structured, said Golby.

“I think broadly, this is a flag or a wake up call or just an awareness,” he said.

The database uses Revenue Canada’s most recent T3010 filings, tracking 205 organizations, and shows the top ten sponsors hold 66 per cent of Canada’s $17.3 billion in DAF assets.

The largest DAF sponsor in Canada is the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal, with $2.52 billion in assets, who distributed $241 million to more than 1400 charities last year.

“Contrary to publications that claim generosity is declining in Canada, we have not experienced this,” said Kathy Assayag, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal.

“The problem with these claims is that the data they quote relies on personal tax fillings with CRA,” she said. 

A large portion of DAF assets come from corporations, which often make charitable gifts by donating assets such as publicly traded securities, she said.

“The more people utilize DAFs the more the charitable sector benefits,” said Assayag.

Nearly all of its DAF grants are made with the donor’s identity disclosed, allowing charities to continue cultivating the relationship.

The second largest DAF sponsor in Canada is Charitable Gift Funds Canada with $2.4 billion, followed by  The Winnipeg Foundation with $1.1 billion.

In total, those three organizations represent more than one-third of Canada’s DAF assets.

“The upside of that is at least we know the pond we need to fish in,” Golby said.

“I think so often we want to just paint things as bad or good. And I think the hope is that we can convey that there is a lot of capital. It’s concentrated. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is the new reality and how do we respond to it?”

What it means for non-profits

Golby says the database is intended to increase transparency, and help non-profits better understand where DAFs are held when making fundraising strategies.

However, John Bromley, founder and CEO of Charitable Impact, said he believes it’s unlikely to change how organizations approach fundraising.

“Fundraising strategy doesn’t change if someone uses a Visa card versus a MasterCard,” he said.

While he noted the underlying data has long been publicly available through CRA filings, Bromley said the value will be in making that information easier to interpret.

“[WellFunded] takes what would take 20 hours of analysis from someone who understands the T3010 and [WellFunded] turns it into 10 minutes,” said Bromley.

However, the database is unlikely to create broad public awareness about DAFs, he said.

“I don’t think my lawyer friend or my accountant friend or my teacher friend is gonna go like ‘This is cool and thank goodness there’s transparency, you know, for something that I’ve never even heard of before’,” said Bromley.

Instead, he thinks it could help improve understanding of DAFs across the sector.

“Getting educated on the charity sector is not easy to do. There’s not really anywhere to go.”

Bromley argued that the growth of DAFs is being driven by donors finding the tools useful, rather than charities adopting them as a new fundraising strategy.

The WellFunded database will be updated every five weeks, as new CRA filings become available.