A donor advised fund is a flexible, personal way to support the causes you care about. You make a gift when it makes sense for you, and then recommend grants to the nonprofits you want to support, when it makes sense for the community. Whether you give once a year or whenever a need catches your attention, our team is here to guide you.
A donor advised fund at the Fond du Lac Area Foundation brings your charitable giving together in one place, in your name or anonymously. We handle the investing, the verification of each recipient, the grant checks, and the record-keeping, so you can focus on the impact you want your giving to have.
A donor advised fund works in three stages: you give, you recommend, and the grant goes out.
First, you make a gift to the fund, by check, cash, or a transfer of appreciated stock. The gift is complete when it arrives, so it is generally deductible in the year you make it rather than in the years the grants go out. From there, the fund is invested.
Next, you recommend grants at whatever pace suits you. Some fund holders recommend a set of grants each December. Others wait until a need arises and respond then. You might support a church, a school, a food pantry, a youth program in Ripon, or a library in Waupun, with one grant or many.
Finally, the grant goes out. Before it does, we confirm that the organization is a qualified charity and that the grant fits the purpose of your fund. We send the grant with a letter noting that it came from your fund, or from an anonymous fund if you prefer. The tax receipts, grant records, and acknowledgment letters are ours to handle.
The say over where the grants go stays with you, and later with the successor advisors you name. The Foundation reviews every grant to confirm the recipient and the charitable purpose, the same review we apply to every fund we hold. Between grants, you can log in to the fund holder portal at any time to see your fund’s balance and activity, and you will receive a fund statement twice a year.
Grants from a donor advised fund must be fully charitable, so they cannot provide a benefit back to you or your family, such as tickets to a fundraising dinner or a membership that comes with benefits. If that kind of giving is part of your plans, let us know and we’ll help you find the right way to do it.
Our team works closely with nonprofit organizations across Fond du Lac County and knows the organizations and needs in our communities. If you are deciding between two food pantries, or you know you want to support the arts in Beaver Dam but aren’t sure where to start, we’re happy to share what we know and help connect your interests with the local work already underway.
A donor advised fund divides the work between you and the Foundation, and it can help to see it laid out.
There are five steps, and our team walks through each one with you.
While many donors choose to involve their attorney, CPA, or financial advisor, it is not required. If you do work with an advisor, we are always happy to collaborate with them. See For Professional Advisors for the details they may want to review.
This is a separate decision from the fund type, and it is about time. An endowed donor advised fund is invested permanently, and a portion of its value is available to grant each year, so it keeps granting for as long as the Foundation exists. A non-endowed donor advised fund can be granted out as quickly as you like, which suits a family that wants to give a larger amount over several years.
A non-endowed fund can be converted into an endowed fund later, but an endowed fund cannot be converted back. See Endowed and Non-Endowed Funds for more detail.
You can name your fund for yourself, your family, a person you are remembering, or the cause it supports. You can also remain anonymous, either grant by grant or as an ongoing preference for your fund. When a grant goes out from an anonymous fund, the letter notes that it came from a fund at the Fond du Lac Area Foundation and leaves your name out.
The Foundation charges an annual administrative fee, which comes out of what the fund earns rather than out of the gift you make. A gift of $100 goes to work as $100. The fee covers investment management, charity verification, grant payments and letters, tax receipts, fund accounting, and the annual audit. To request the current fee schedule, please email info@fdlareafoundation.com.
We believe donors should have a clear understanding of their charitable giving options. Our goal is to help identify the giving strategy that best serves you. When another charitable vehicle may be a better fit, we’re happy to have that conversation and help explore the available options, including with your financial advisor, attorney, or CPA.
When gifts are made by credit card, processing fees are deducted before the contribution is received by the fund. Donors who wish to maximize the value of their gift may prefer to give by check, stock transfer, or another available method.
A donor advised fund can be opened with, or added to with, any of the following.
One requirement is worth knowing in advance. A qualified charitable distribution (QCD), which is a gift sent directly from your IRA custodian once you are 70½ or older, cannot go to a donor advised fund under federal rules. It can go to a designated, field of interest, scholarship, unrestricted, or agency fund at the Foundation. The annual QCD limit is set by the IRS and indexed each year, so please check IRS.gov for the current figure. If you plan to give from an IRA, let us know early and we’ll help you choose a fund that can receive it. See Qualified Charitable Distributions from Your IRA.
Gifts to a donor advised fund are generally tax-deductible in the year they are made, and giving appreciated stock directly, rather than selling it first, generally avoids the capital gains tax on the sale. The Foundation does not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult your advisor.
In fiscal year 2025, the Foundation awarded $3.7M in grant dollars and $409,528 in scholarship dollars, and 32 new funds were established. Grants from donor advised funds are part of that work, recommended by fund holders one at a time to organizations they know and care about.
The Foundation is also proud to serve the affiliate communities of Beaver Dam, Horicon, Oakfield, Ripon, and Waupun, each with its own charitable funds and local leadership. If your giving is rooted in one of these communities, we’d be happy to connect you with the right people there.
Photo: Volunteers at a Fond du Lac County nonprofit that received a grant recommended from a donor advised fund
A donor advised fund is a charitable fund you give to now and grant from over time. You make a gift, generally take the tax deduction that year, and then recommend grants to the nonprofits you choose, including organizations across Fond du Lac County. The Fond du Lac Area Foundation invests the fund, verifies each recipient, sends the grants, and keeps the records. Most funds can be established with $1,000.
A donor advised fund at the Foundation gives you the flexibility to recommend grants on your own schedule, along with local knowledge. Our team knows the organizations and needs across Fond du Lac County and can help connect your interests with the work already underway. When another charitable vehicle may be a better fit, we’re happy to have that conversation.
An annual administrative fee is taken out of what the fund earns rather than out of the gift itself. A $100 gift goes to work as $100. The fee covers investment management, charity verification, grant payments, tax receipts, fund accounting, and the audit. You can request the current fee schedule by emailing info@fdlareafoundation.com.
Your gift is complete when you make it, which is what makes it eligible for a deduction, and from that point the fund belongs to the Foundation. The say over where the grants go stays with you. You recommend the nonprofit, the amount, and the timing, and we confirm the recipient is a qualified charity and the grant fits your fund’s purpose before it is paid.
Yes. You can name your children as successor advisors in the fund agreement, allowing them to continue supporting the causes and organizations that matter most to your family. We encourage open family conversations to decide whether this role is a good fit.
The fund follows the plan in your fund agreement. You may name successor advisors, or direct that the fund become an endowed unrestricted fund or an endowed designated fund. These instructions can be reviewed and updated at any point during your lifetime.
A qualified charitable distribution from an IRA cannot go to a donor advised fund under federal rules. It can go to a designated, field of interest, scholarship, unrestricted, or agency fund at the Foundation. If you would like to give from an IRA, let us know first and we’ll help you choose a fund type that can receive it.
Tell us what you’d like your giving to do. That is the whole first meeting, and there are no forms to bring. From there, we’ll walk through the fund agreement, the endowed or non-endowed choice, and your first gift. See How to Start a Charitable Fund for the full process.
