What the DAF data means for you: eight findings, three ways to read them

This month we published every grant Canada's donor-advised funds reported to the CRA, about $2.2 billion a year from 157 sponsors, as a free dashboard. Since then, the question I've heard most often is some version of "so what do we do with it?" It's so much information it can be overwhelming.

The DAF field guide takes eight findings from the data and, for each one, sets out what it means if you run a charity, advise clients or run a DAF program. Pick your role at the top of the page and it shows only the advice written for you.

Read the field guide →

The eight findings

1. DAF giving in Canada runs as two economies. 278 grants of $1 million or more carried 41% of the money, while half of all grants are $5,000 or less.
2. 68% of DAF dollars stay in the sponsor's home province. DAFs are a national tool used mostly for local giving.
3. Half of Canada's DAF dollars move in about 1% of grants. A few hundred decisions a year shape a large share of what DAFs do.
4. Most charities that receive DAF grants hear from just one sponsor. For charities under $1 million in revenue, it's 67%.
5. For every dollar Canadian DAFs granted, $1.73 came in. The money waiting in DAFs grew by about $1.4 billion in a year.
6. Canada's DAFs granted 10.8% of their assets in a year, more than twice the 5% private foundations must grant.
7. Private foundations sent $440 million into DAFs, and DAFs sent $113 million back. Not every dollar goes straight to a charity's work.
8. About 3% of Canada's DAF dollars go to international aid, which makes it one of the least funded areas of DAF giving.

Why we built it this way

The same number means different things depending on where you sit. A charity reading that most DAF grants are a few thousand dollars should build for volume at the mid-level. An advisor reading the same number can reassure a client that a DAF doesn't need a seven-figure plan to do good work. A DAF program reading it should make small, frequent grants as easy as possible. We wanted one page where each reader could find their own version.

Every finding links back to the chart behind it on the dashboard, and every number comes from CRA T3010 and T1236 filings. If you spot something we've missed or got wrong, tell us and we'll look at it.