A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Strong stock market returns and tax reform gave a boost to charitable giving in 2025, according to DAFgiving360, one of the largest administrators of donor-advised funds.
The organization reported that its donors granted a record $9.9 billion to charities in 2025, an increase of $2.2 billion, or 28%, from the prior year.
Donors can contribute cash or assets to donor-advised funds, or DAFs, and get an immediate tax deduction before they decide how to distribute their gift to charities. For donors who want to offload appreciated assets without paying capital gains tax, it’s much simpler to give stock or other non-cash assets to a DAF than directly to a nonprofit. Until the donor-advised fund makes grants to charities, the assets continue to appreciate.
Julie Sunwoo, president of DAFgiving360, told CNBC that a record 74% of contributions last year were made in the form of non-cash assets, including ETFs, index funds, real estate and cryptocurrency.
