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Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) - EasyDAF by DonateStock

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) are one of the fastest-growing sources of charitable giving in the United States — but the traditional grant-making process can be slow, confusing, and disconnected from your nonprofit. BetterUnite’s new DAF giving integration, powered by EasyDAF by DonateStock, lets your donors recommend a grant from their DAF directly from your fundraising page in just a few minutes.

This article walks you through how DAF giving works on BetterUnite, what your donors will see, and how you’ll receive and reconcile grants in your dashboard.

Why DAFs matter for your nonprofit

DAFs represent a significant and largely untapped funding opportunity:

  • There are over 1.2 million DAF accounts in the U.S.
  • Combined DAF balances exceed $300 billion.
  • Actual annual giving from DAFs is around $55 billion — about a 20% payout rate — meaning tens of billions of dollars are sitting in DAFs that could be granted out.

The barrier has historically been friction: donors have to log into their DAF portal, search for the right charity, enter the EIN correctly, and complete the grant recommendation manually. EasyDAF removes most of that friction by letting donors initiate a grant directly from your BetterUnite fundraising page.

How DAF grants meet the needs of every stakeholder

EasyDAF is designed so that three groups all get what they need from a single workflow:

  • Donors get an easy, intuitive flow and assurance their grant goes to the right nonprofit.
  • Nonprofits (you) get grant notifications, donor contact information, less manual reconciliation, and — in the future — closed-loop reporting.
  • DAF Administrators (like Fidelity Charitable, National Philanthropic Trust, DAFgiving360, National Christian Foundation, and Vanguard Charitable) get a process that respects their legal, security, and privacy requirements.

What EasyDAF does for your nonprofit

EasyDAF (by DonateStock) is the technology that powers DAF grants on BetterUnite. Here’s what it enables:

  1. Donors can start a grant directly from your nonprofit’s page — no need to send them off to find you in their DAF portal.
  2. You capture the donor information you need to acknowledge them, including name, email, phone, and which DAF and personal giving fund the grant is coming from.
  3. Donors are far less likely to send their grant to the wrong organization, because EasyDAF passes your exact EIN/Tax ID into the workflow.
  4. You save time reconciling grants — instead of trying to match a check from a DAF sponsor to an anonymous donor, the grant arrives with donor context already attached.
  5. In the future, closed-loop reporting will allow EasyDAF to confirm grant delivery via API, giving you full ROI measurement.
Pricing

EasyDAF/DonateStock charges a 1.5% transaction fee on DAF grants processed through the widget. There is no additional BetterUnite fee for using this integration.

The end-to-end workflow

Here’s how a DAF grant moves from your donor through the DAF sponsor and back to your nonprofit:

  1. The donor clicks “Donate by DAF” on your BetterUnite page to launch the EasyDAF widget.
  2. The donor selects their DAF, enters their contact information, and provides grant details.
  3. The donor is redirected to their DAF sponsor’s login page to complete the grant recommendation directly with the DAF sponsor. Important: EasyDAF never accesses the donor’s DAF login credentials — the donor logs in to their own DAF account just as they normally would.
  4. The DAF sponsor processes the grant and sends the funds to your nonprofit (typically by check or EFT, according to the sponsor’s normal process).
  5. The nonprofit is notified by email

 

 

What the donor experience looks like

Below is the step-by-step experience your donors will have once they click “Donate by DAF” on your nonprofit page.

Steps 1 & 2: Donor clicks “Donate by DAF” and sees the intro screen

The donor clicks the “Donate by DAF” button on your fundraising page. An EasyDAF modal appears with a brief explanation:

  • A three-step summary: select your DAF, provide contact information, submit the grant online.
  • A reassurance message that EasyDAF does not ask for brokerage login credentials and does not sell or share donor information.

 

Steps 3 & 4: Donor enters contact and grant details, then copies your Tax ID

The donor fills in:

  • Donor Advised Fund (e.g., Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund)
  • Name of their personal giving fund
  • Grant Amount
  • First name, last name, email, and phone

On the next screen, EasyDAF shows a summary of the grant (amount, your nonprofit name, and your Tax ID/EIN) with a Copy to Clipboard button for the Tax ID. The donor then clicks Continue to [DAF Sponsor] to be sent to their DAF’s login page.

Steps 5 & 6: Donor logs into their DAF and searches by Tax ID

The donor lands on their DAF sponsor’s real login page (in the example, Fidelity Charitable). After logging in with their own DAF credentials, they paste your Tax ID into the “Find a charity” search to locate your organization quickly and accurately — eliminating the risk of selecting the wrong nonprofit with a similar name.

From there, the donor completes the grant recommendation inside the DAF sponsor’s portal as they normally would.

 

Frequently asked questions

Does EasyDAF have access to my donor’s DAF account?

No. Donors log into their DAF sponsor’s site directly using their own credentials. EasyDAF never sees or stores DAF login information.

How long does it take to receive the actual funds?

Once the donor submits the grant recommendation, the DAF sponsor processes the grant on their own schedule — typically within a few business days to a few weeks, depending on the sponsor. The funds arrive through the DAF sponsor’s normal delivery method (often check or EFT).

Will the grant be acknowledged automatically?

Because EasyDAF captures donor contact information at the start of the grant, you have what you need to send an acknowledgment. Note that DAFs are not tax-deductible to the donor at the time of the grant (the donor already received their deduction when they contributed to the DAF), so your acknowledgment should thank the donor for their grant recommendation rather than provide a new tax receipt.

Which DAF sponsors are supported?

EasyDAF supports grants from major DAF sponsors including Fidelity Charitable, National Philanthropic Trust, DAFgiving360, National Christian Foundation, and Vanguard Charitable, with more being added.

What does this cost?

EasyDAF charges a 1.5% transaction fee. There is no additional BetterUnite fee for using the DAF integration.

What is the “Initiated” status?

“Initiated” means the donor has started the grant recommendation through EasyDAF and been sent to their DAF sponsor’s portal to complete the process. Confirmation that the grant has been approved and sent by the DAF sponsor will come through a future API integration that supports closed-loop reporting.

Getting started

If you’d like to enable DAF giving on your BetterUnite fundraising pages, contact your BetterUnite account manager or reach out to support@betterunite.com. We’ll walk you through enabling the “Donate by DAF” button on your pages and reviewing your DAF Donations dashboard.