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Breast Cancer Support For DAF Day (October 9)

Surviving Breast Cancer
2 days ago
4 min read

Between Yom Kippur, Columbus Day, Diwali, and Halloween, October is filled with notable days (in addition to being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, of course). One date that probably isn’t marked on your calendar is DAF Day on October 9 — a day dedicated to promoting donor-advised funds for charitable giving to important causes. For SurvivingBreastCancer.org, DAF Day provides invaluable support for our programs aimed at helping those diagnosed with breast cancer and their loved ones.

Once an obscure donation avenue for wealthy philanthropists, technological advances have made DAFs accessible to the charitable populace. This article will explain why DAFs have become so popular, how they differ from traditional donation methods, and how they can support the breast cancer community.

What Are Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs)?

A donor-advised fund is a giving account set up to be a vehicle for charitable funds through a sponsoring organization. These organizations are typically financial institutions like Fidelity or Schwab, but also include community foundations in some cases. The fund allows donors to contribute towards non-profit organizations through stocks and bonds rather than traditional cash donations.

A DAF acts as a savings account specifically for philanthropic giving. When someone moves money into their DAF, their tax deduction goes into effect immediately, and they recommend grants to IRS-approved nonprofits as they see fit. This allows your designated charitable contributions to grow over time and increase philanthropic impact.

Thanks to advances in the financial technology sector, donor-advised funds have shifted from a complicated charitable trek for the ultra-wealthy to a convenient, straightforward path for anyone giving to non-profits they believe in.

How DAFs Differ from Traditional Donations

Traditional giving often comes with a psychological hurdle: deciding how much to give in the moment and parting with money that feels tied to day-to-day budgets.

Many non-profit organizations have come to understand a fundamental truth about traditional donations: in-the-moment giving through cash or credit cards is psychologically challenging for donors. The psychological impact of instantly parting with their hard-earned money causes many generous people to pause before their charitable contributions.

DAFs help reduce the feeling of loss associated with donations because money placed into the fund has already been committed to charitable giving; it’s only a matter of where the donor chooses to send the designated funds. Because donors can budget their charitable funds ahead of time with DAFs, they gain many benefits over traditional giving, including:

Reduced mental friction: Donors can decisively designate where to send any amount of their DAF’s assets. The psychological effect is more similar to using a gift card you already purchased compared to parting with cash.
Funds are ready to send when you’re ready: When compelled by a worthy cause, you can donate without having to worry about financial implications like cash flow because you have already designated the funds for giving.
More generous contributions: Because charitable funds are allowed to grow while in a DAF, donors can give even more than they originally budgeted for.

The psychological benefits DAFs offer donors over traditional giving significantly reduce mental obstacles for charitable giving, helping non-profits like SurvivingBreastCancer.org help reach more people diagnosed with breast cancer while enabling generous people to reach their philanthropic goals.

Why DAFs are Growing Among Donors

Donor-advised funds have seen immense growth in recent years. According to the DAF payment tool Chariot*, the sector has seen extraordinary growth in the past decade, including:

5x total growth since 2013
Over $55 billion granted to non-profits through DAFs in 2023, representing a 6x increase in ten years
51% increase in average DAF gift size in 2025, reflecting both a strong overall market and interest in asset-based giving

DAFs’ ability to deliver charitable funds to non-profits through fast, frictionless, and accessible means has allowed them to expand rapidly, including among employers offering DAF contributions as an employee benefit.

Benefits for Donors

DAF Day on October 9 is rapidly approaching, and if you are considering giving to SurvivingBreastCancer.org through a DAF, here are some of the benefits you can expect:

Immediate tax deduction: DAF contributions are tax-deductible in the year they are committed, even when non-profit grants are distributed later on.
Donation flexibility: Donors can designate grants at their own pace, be it immediately to a specific program or over several years at their discretion.
Charitable security: Giving through DAF platforms reduces the risk of check fraud and other crimes associated with mailing paper checks and simplifies non-profits’ record-keeping processes.

How Your DAF Supports SurvivingBreastCancer.org’s Programs

Tens of millions of dollars are expected to be committed to non-profits on DAF Day, October 9. With SurvivingBreastCancer.org, every donation allows our organization to offer vital resources for the breast cancer community, including free educational resources, support groups, wellness initiatives, webinars, a weekly newsletter, and a podcast.

If you are interested in supporting our mission, please, do consider supporting the breast cancer community through a donor-advised fund contribution. If you’d prefer to give through traditional means, we certainly appreciate that as well.