Donor-Advised Funds: Turn Intention Into Impact

What Is a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)?

A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is one of the most effective, flexible ways to manage your giving. It allows you to make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax deduction, and then recommend grants to qualified charities over time.

Think of it as a charitable investment account for the sole purpose of doing good: you contribute cash or appreciated assets, your fund can grow tax-free, and you choose when and where to recommend grants.

At The Life You Can Save, we help DAF donors direct that generosity where it saves and improves the most lives — efficiently, transparently, and with proven results. 

The Moment That Matters Most

The most rewarding and powerful part of having a Donor-Advised Fund isn’t funding it:  it’s recommending the grant that turns your intention into action.

There’s currently over 250 billion dollars sitting idle in DAFs in the U.S., waiting to be distributed, as estimated by the National Philanthropic Trust. 

Recommending your grant is the moment you actualize the good you meant to do — the step where generosity becomes impact.

Your DAF was created to make a difference. Let’s make that happen.

Recommend a Grant Today

Turn Your DAF Into Maximum Impact

If you already have a Donor-Advised Fund, you can recommend a grant to The Life You Can Save or to one of our cause-specific funds, including the Maximize Your Impact Fund, which directs pooled resources to the world’s most effective programs fighting extreme poverty.

Our team continually evaluates evidence and identifies programs proven to save and improve the most lives, especially among people living on less than about $3 per day, the World Bank’s current threshold for extreme poverty.

Whether you prefer to support our full portfolio or focus on a specific cause, your DAF grant will reach rigorously vetted, high-impact organizations that deliver measurable results.

Your DAF makes it easy to support these rigorously vetted charities through providers like Fidelity Charitable, DAFgiving360, or BNY Mellon. Whether you want to support our entire portfolio or focus on a specific cause or fund, your grant goes directly to interventions proven to work.

Giving Through Donor-Advised Funds Benefits

Maximum Impact, Minimum Effort

With one grant recommendation, you can support multiple effective charities. We handle the research and due diligence so you can simply choose the amount and the focus area.

Every Dollar Goes Further

If you contribute appreciated assets such as stocks or crypto to your DAF, you may be eligible for additional tax advantages compared to selling those assets first and contributing the proceedings of this sale to your DAF. This can increase the amount ultimately available for charitable giving.

When you recommend a grant to The Life You Can Save, you help ensure those resources support programs proven to save and improve lives.

Give When You’re Ready and See the Results

DAFs let you plan your giving strategically. You can claim your deduction when you fund your account, then recommend grants when the time is right.

When you’re ready, we can help direct your generosity to where it will do the most good and show you the outcomes it achieves. 

Involve Your Family in Giving

Many DAFs allow you to include family members in your giving decisions. It is a shared opportunity to talk about values, evidence, and the power of effective generosity.

One Grant, Global Impact

A single DAF grant to The Life You Can Save or to the Maximize Your Impact Fund supports interventions such as malaria prevention, deworming programs, and direct cash transfers to families living in extreme poverty. It is the simplest way to turn financial resources into real-world change.

How to Recommend a Grant

You can recommend a grant directly through your DAF provider’s platform:

Search for “The Life You Can Save”.

Confirm our EIN: 46-2100400.

Specify whether you’d like your grant directed to:

• The Life You Can Save (Operations Support)
• Maximize Your Impact Fund
• A specific cause fund
• If your provider requires an address, please use: The Life You Can Save

Need help? We’re here to make the process simple.

Email us at donate@thelifeyoucansave.org  and we will walk you through recommending your grant.

Making a DAF grant takes minutes. Contact us and we’ll help ensure your donation reaches the most effective charities working to end extreme poverty.

Start Your Donation with DAF here!