Thank you both Donna and Leah! Great to hear we're not the only ones looking at these incredulous scenarios!
Original Message:
Sent: 09-23-2025 09:49 AM
From: Leah Richards
Subject: Latest DAF follies!
Hi Eric,
To your point and others, I've only had one instance of this where we had enough documentation from the DAF to warrant booking the commitment in full. However, this became a point where we differed from our Finance team as they did not concur that the documentation was sufficient enough to record on the books.
Good luck!
Leah
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Leah Richards
St. John Fisher University
lrichards@sjf.edu
Original Message:
Sent: 09-22-2025 01:38 PM
From: Eric Valdescaro
Subject: Latest DAF follies!
Did we get a couple of cross thread posts here? π I know we had another DAF question posted by Cara, but not quite my question.
I'm trying to learn if anyone has seen where a DAF has actually signed on to an agreement to fulfill a commitment made by the individual (advisor)? And if so, is this something that is extremely rare or just uncommon.
Thanks all!
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Eric Valdescaro
Kennesaw State University
evaldesc@kennesaw.edu
Original Message:
Sent: 09-22-2025 01:32 PM
From: John Taylor
Subject: Latest DAF follies!
As I mentioned earlier, you can "book" a pledge if you use the right language.
Or, you can use a non-binding letter of intent with a unique pledge type to track these.
Or, you can create an "opportunity" in the PM module to note the anticipation.
There are many other ways to note these sorts of things. What matters most is coming up with a systematic approach that will work best for your CRM - and don't change that process!
John
John H. Taylor, PrincipalJohn H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
2604 Sevier Street
Durham, NC 27705
919.816.5903 (cell/text)
Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987
Original Message:
Sent: 9/22/2025 2:25:00 PM
From: Cara Anderson Rosas
Subject: RE: Latest DAF follies!
I'm curious how to handle the reporting piece when the donor is using a DAF. how do you track them when you're not booking the pledge?
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Cara Anderson Rosas
Campbell & Company
cara.andersonrosas@campbellcompany.com
Original Message:
Sent: 08-28-2025 11:07 AM
From: Eric Valdescaro
Subject: Latest DAF follies!
Thanks Teresa, good to know! Interesting tidbit... I'm finding that in my case, much of the push by fundraisers to count DAF gifts seems to hinge on an assumption that they only get credit for what is countable. Their time and effort that goes into springing commitments should not go unrecognized (or not "credited") simply because the benefactor decides to use a DAF. And we can often do this for standard commitments by entering MOUs instead of pledges and so forth. But this scenario with the DAF vehicle for the planned gift threw me. So, I may need to work with our AVP on an internal methodology we can use to provide credit to our PG director in such cases.
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Eric Valdescaro
Kennesaw State University
evaldesc@kennesaw.edu
Original Message:
Sent: 08-28-2025 07:24 AM
From: Teresa Goddard
Subject: Latest DAF follies!
Eric
So that you don't feel like you're on an island, I too have had a couple of these scenarios. While the DO was excited that they had secured a commitment, and desperately wanted to get credit for the fundraising, I once again burst their bubble and did not record the estate commitment and only the cash as if was received annually from the DAF.
DAF Follies - I sense that we may need to create another vibrant community in aasp Connect.
T.
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Teresa Goddard
DePauw University
teresagoddard@depauw.edu
Original Message:
Sent: 08-27-2025 11:14 AM
From: Eric Valdescaro
Subject: Latest DAF follies!
Fellow listers!
I'd be surprised if we were the first institution to encounter this, but I haven't seen it before, nor know of anyone who has! We have a donor who has signed our paperwork to make a very large revocable bequest and wants to do it through her DAF. But it doesn't stop there. It's not a one-time sum. It shall be a series of payouts from an endowment. However, rather than bequeath the funds to set up an endowment with us, she wants to bequeath the corpus to her DAF and then have the DAF make annual payouts to us in perpetuity. Upon her death she has assigned a designee who shall take over annual advisements to the DAF to direct payments to us, and the DAF has agreed to this.
My question is, how do we count this? Because the funds are expected to come from a DAF each year, my inclination is that we count those payouts as gifts when received. However, do we also count the corpus amount to the DAF as a planned gift? Part of me feels like this would be double counting, but I can't explain how. Thanks for any insight or help!
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Eric Valdescaro
Kennesaw State University
evaldesc@kennesaw.edu
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