Breaking down the DAFgiving360 FY25 Annual Report

The most important takeaways in the latest reporting from the second largest DAF in the world.

DAFgiving360, f.k.a Schwab Charitable, ended their fiscal year June 30, 2025 and published their annual giving data last week. We’ve laid out the most interesting insights into DAF donor behavior and what these findings mean for nonprofit fundraisers. This data demonstrates many of the key qualities associated with DAF donors, and the increasingly compelling opportunity for development teams across the country. 

1. Scale

DAFgiving360 shared that they granted $8.9 billion from their DAF account in FY25. That was made up of 1.4 million grants to 155,000+ charities.  

For fundraisers: DAF giving is not a “flash in the pan trend” for large organizations. It’s happening at a massive scale, affecting nearly every nonprofit. 

2. Growth 

DAFgiving360’s annual granting volume has grown 9x in 10 years (from $1 billion in FY16 to $8.9 billion in FY25). In FY25 alone, grant volume increased at a staggering rate of +34% year-over-year. This rate of growth compared with the Calendar Year 2024 results for Fidelity Charitable of +25% imply that DAF giving is accelerating even faster in the first half of the year. The overall number of grants at DAFgiving360 was also up 19% year-over-year in FY25, and that figure is up 5x over the past 10 years (from 238,000 in FY16 to 1.4 million in FY25). 

For fundraisers: Overall giving has stagnated in recent years, but DAF giving is exploding. And it’s not because it’s growing from a “small base.” The fact that providers like DAFgiving360 are growing this much at their scale should be sounding alarm bells at nonprofits about how DAF-centric the near future could look. Does your organization have a strategy in place to prepare for that future? 

3. Generosity

Despite the increasing accessibility with DAFgiving360 / Schwab Charitable accounts, having removed minimum account balance requirements altogether in 2020, the average donation size has increased dramatically in the past 10 years: +51% between FY16 and FY25. 

The company also disclosed findings from a January 2025 donor survey, finding that 72% of DAF holders agreed with the statement “having a DAF account increases their charitable giving.” This finding on the positive impact of DAFs on overall generosity is in line with the findings in the 2025 DAF Fundraising Report assessing nonprofits’ DAF giving data: 67% of donors that started using a DAF for the first time to support an organization in 2024 increased their giving, and the average increase was +1,357%.   

For fundraisers: At a time when the funding landscape has been turned upside down, it’s important to invest in channels demonstrating long-term growth. A relatively small percentage of the population uses a DAF today, but their gift sizes can have a transformative impact that has only gotten greater over time.  

4. Trust

There was a 20% year-over-year increase in the number of unrestricted grants, which now account for 72% of the overall giving from DAFgiving360 accounts. 

For fundraisers: The vast majority of DAF gifts come without strings attached. People use DAFs because they want to simplify their giving and maximize their impact, so they generally aren’t trying to create extra hoops or requirements with their support. Focus on your stewardship and timely communication with these supporters to retain and build that trust further. 

5. Consistency 

DAFgiving360 disclosed that 38% of the grants scheduled in FY25 were established as recurring gifts. 85% of overall grants were to an organization they’ve supported before (either as a scheduled recurring gift or a re-grant). 

For fundraisers: The impact of a DAF portal easily recapping your prior giving is that DAF donors tend to regrant often, and they are increasingly setting up recurring gifts. Yes, the obvious step is to make sure you’re reminding your donors that they can set up recurring gifts from their DAF, but the thing most organizations miss is then including those recurring DAF donors in your engagement flows for your monthly donors!

Top tip: did you know that recurring gifts can be made in DAFpay? If you don’t have the feature enabled, or want to learn more, reach out to our team. 

6. Increasing Impact

In addition to that consistency, 15% of the grants made in FY25 were to an organization which that donor had not previously supported.

For fundraisers: There’s a mindset shift with using a DAF. Once you’ve set the money aside in a restricted fund that can only be used for giving, you end up being more engaged with your philanthropy and quicker to act when inspired by a new organization. The fact that so many DAF holders continue to find new organizations to support each year means that you need to bring up DAF giving in your communications and make it as easy as possible - especially for a net-new DAF supporter.

Read the full annual report from DAFgiving360 in full here. 

Recapping Fundraiser Action Items: 

• Invest in a DAF strategy. The DAF opportunity is enormous and only accelerating, as proven by reporting like this. If your organization isn’t sure where to get started, check out this guide to DAF strategy, informed by a recent conversation with The ACLU, The Wounded Warrior Project and The Public Theater.  

  
  

• Audit your data & stewardship: Most organizations are still not tracking and stewarding their DAF donors effectively. That’s the foundation for any DAF strategy and your opportunity to capitalize on these trends will only be as strong as your data & stewardship practices. Follow this guide to clean up your DAF data and turn DAF fundraising into a strength instead of a liability.  

  
  

• Participate in DAF Day: October 9th is the second annual DAF Day - a national holiday for DAF giving. It’s the perfect chance to get your team focused on this topic and benefit from the collective momentum across the sector. Get involved by claiming your Chariot account and taking advantage of all the resources.  

  
  

• Activate DAFpay: The most effective way to remind your donors to use their DAF and make it easy is by having DAFpay as a payment option at checkout. If your fundraising platform already offers DAFpay, take advantage of it! If not, make sure and request the integration.