We’re digging deeper into the roles of donor advised funds (DAFs) at Michigan community foundations, sharing examples of DAFs in action around the state to learn more about their role in communities.
We’re digging deeper into the roles of donor advised funds (DAFs) at Michigan community foundations, sharing examples of DAFs in action around the state to learn more about their role in communities.
We’re highlighting how several community foundations across the state leveraged DAFs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the pandemic unfolded in Michigan, some foundations created COVID-19 Relief and Response Funds to support local nonprofit, governmental and educational organizations that provided services to their communities in need amid the pandemic. CMF tracked over 50 such funds active around the state, either led by Michigan philanthropy or supported by philanthropy in collaboration with partners such as the local United Way.
Many community foundations saw their donor advisors eager and willing to support.
Throughout our conversations with community foundations over the course of the last several months we heard from many leaders about the ways their DAF holders stepped up immediately as the pandemic unfolded.
“DAF holders are folks who are trying to support their community and during COVID that became so clear, and it rang true in every need, from helping our arts organizations to survive, to food pantries, those partnerships gave continually throughout COVID,” Lisa Cripps-Downey, president of Berrien Community Foundation said.
DAFs also provided the necessary infrastructure to get spendable dollars into the community quickly to support rapid response efforts.
“The fact that they already have their money committed to charitable causes, they don’t have to write a new check, they can simply say that this money is available now for urgent needs and we want to support it,” Dennis Fliehman, president and CEO of Capital Region Community Foundation, said. “That was their response when the pandemic began.”
Fliehman and his team shared that their DAF holders were “able to make larger gifts, potentially more than they could have with just their checkbook.”
At the Grand Rapids Community Foundation (GRCF), their COVID Recovery Fund helped the foundation pool resources and quickly dispatch dollars for crisis response and long-term recovery.
GRCF has shared the critical role DAF holders have played in their COVID-19 response efforts to continue advancing toward recovery and reimagining the community’s future, with DAFs increasing the amount of grant dollars distributed to nonprofits by 23% in 2020 alone.
Cripps-Downey shared that through their COVID relief fund, the community foundation was able to make grants every week and DAF holders were crucial in supporting those efforts.
In addition, the Berrien Community Foundation created a fund to support businesses and DAF holders supported that initiative, as well.
“We partnered with our local economic development organization and created a fund for our local small businesses through which they could get a loan to pay their rent and when businesses started to open again we were able to forgive those loans with DAFs support,” Cripps-Downey said.
In northern Michigan, the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation (PHSACF) received contributions from DAF holders for their Essential Needs Fund which supports nonprofit partners who have experienced financial hardship in their operations due to COVID and who are also providing emergency relief to families and individuals affected by the pandemic.
“When COVID hit, our DAF holders made a conscious effort to trust the community foundation with where these dollars went,” David ‘DJ’ Jones, executive director of PHSACF, said.
The community foundations say that DAF holders became impactful partners in supporting COVID relief efforts within their communities and were able to respond quickly to the needs of their community foundations for immediate and long-term recovery.
Want more?
We invite you to read more about DAFs at Berrien Community Foundation, Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation, Capital Region Community Foundation and Grand Rapids Community Foundation.
CMF released phase 3 of our payout rate research series, Analysis of Donor Advised Funds from a Community Foundation Perspective, focusing on the payout rates of donor advised funds (DAFs) within the context of the philanthropic sector, specifically the payout rates of DAFs administered by Michigan community foundations. CMF has also crafted a comprehensive FAQ on DAFs and Payout Rates to help our community of philanthropy and sector partners navigate phase 3 of our payout rate research series.
