A thread where I've been talking about why I love my DAF

Curious your thoughts on Daffy vs Fidelity and other options

Daffy has cool branding 😀

Seems like there are many benefits to a DAF but wondering about some nuances that are probably common for frum people. It seems like a great way to keep all giving organized in one place but there’s a few areas where it could get messy. Anyone have any input? 1. Various go fund me pages and person to person donations that we want to use maaser to give to, but are not tax deductible. This would mean we can’t just use the DAF outgoing money as a way to keep track of maaser. 2. Shul membership and various sponsorships, which are tax deductible but not maaser (according to many opinions). Should shul membership, sponsorships, etc be paid with a DAF? However, if these are the only extra areas to keep track of, a DAF still simplified the vast majority of other giving. Would love to hear from the chevre here 😀 Thread in #taxes

Hi does anyone know how Maaser works for businesses? My question is: Is Maaser given from income before expenses or after expenses?

Curious what tips people have for keeping track of maaser in ways that are not tedious. (Other than a DAF.) My basic approach is to subtract my monthly donations from maaser, move the rest into a bucket, and then move it out of that bucket when I give it. But that's a bit tedious.

Regarding giving chomesh (20%), I've read that it's preferred to give 10% twice, as opposed to giving 20% once. How does that work with an example of $100? Is it 10% of 100 ($10) then 10% of the remainder ($9) for a total of $19, or is it 20% of the original $100?

For a long time I had a separate account for Tzedaka which was very straightforward (just deposit Masser ect) Recently I managed to establish a non-profit for Shiruim ect. And have managed to divert some income I was getting to be paid directly to the non profit. (LeKavod uncle sam). Here is the complexity. Part of my income in the company account which pays expenses that are a mix of both Masser "approved" and non Masser "approved". My initial thought was to just divert all my Maser (from other streams of income) into this company account. (And just keep a single cheahbon of what percentage it was to keep those expenses only maser) However I run into the reverse issue of only being able to "spend" maser on "expenses" that are legally in line with the non profit. I know I can just do things the hard way and manually review everything...but maybe someone has a more straightforward solution. Thanks

Has anyone gotten a psak about not having to take off ma'aser while you're trying to get out of debt? I've heard people talking about it, but I've never heard a real source. I have heard that it only works if you're actually working to get out of debt, not if you're still spending frivolously.

Amazing mitzva to support the cause of Maasar awareness. https://silvertable.org/?shareKey=ras2570

Where should money in a DAF be invested (assuming don't want it to lose its original value)?

I don't understand the current state of Israel politics at all, but as I understand it the government is cutting funding to yeshivas. If I wanted to donate money to the fundraising happening now to support those yeshivas, does anyone know how I might go about doing it? To be clear, I don't mean a significant amount of money that would require a personal phone call to anyone, but more like something because I'd like to be mishtatef (mishtatefes?)

Anyone heard of or used Daffy for opening a DAF? Fees seem way lower than Fidelity https://www.daffy.org/resources/donor-advised-funds-costs-compare

As Rush Hashana is coming up, I am considering pledging x amount of maaser to tzedakah, as it says in (Devarim 14:22) ‘Asser Ta’Asser’? Separate a tenth so that you will become wealthy! if anyone can share their experience or tips, it would be very helpful.

For discussion purposes only, for end result psak please ask you LOR. In Baltimore ther is something called the Baltimore tuition initiative which is giving many tuition paying families a percentage of their tuition back. Would maaser need to be taken from this rebate? Is it just considered getting your own money back that you already took maaser from or is it considered money that you would not have had otherwise so maaser needs to be taken?

Can anyone recommend a Tzedaka that supports orphans in the US? I see a bunch for E"Y, but I'm not easily finding one for the US. Bonus points if I can order a pushka from them.

Does one give Maaser on a check received from escrow surplus money?

Is donating with The Donors Fund card with a 2.9% fee any worse for the receiving organization than using a credit card?

My wife is in the hospital for a while.and we are experiencing financial difficulties due to this including her unable to work. Financial pressures are immense and I am feeling like I need to compromise Judaism to make up for finances.

Please help me.

Friends is there an exhaustive maaser guide/excel sheet out there

Any ideas for maaser regarding investments (specially stock markets). I take off maaser from income and if there is extra I’ll put into stock market. So the capital is already post maaser, is there a way to figure out when you withdraw what the “capital is” and what gains are

How would one deal with loses of maaser money that is in a DAF (just asking hypothetically 🙂 bec market was down today which made me think)? For example, say I put $100 dollars in a DAF and invest it in the most basic S&P500 index. It will go up and down. The S&P can be negative for quite some time as well... Do I need to remember how much I started off with and how much I donated to make sure that I gave the correct amount? Or is putting, say 10%, in the DAF all I need to?

I keep my DAF in a money market fund to avoid the loss

My understanding is that you are responsible to make up any investment losses. I also keep my DAF only in a money market fund.

Why would you put in anywhere, why not just let it sit in the DAF?

If you transfer securities to a DAF to avoid capital gains taxes, can you then sell it right after you transfer it (and leave in MMKT fund/cash) so you don’t run the risk of it losing value?

Aren't the obligations of separating maaser and distributing it 2 different things? If so, you wouldn't pay it back. You fulfilled the obligation of separating the maaser and you were a steward to give it out. You decided that giving investing it until it was distributed was in the best interest of whatever charities would receive the funds. You were wrong, but I don't see why that would create a personal obligation for you to repay it. Charities invest money all the time. If they lose some are the board of directors responsible to pay it back? Another point is that once the funds are sent to a DAF it no longer belongs to you. The DAF operates based on your recommendations. They invested or distribute it based on your recommendation, but they're the ones doing it, not you. They're not even your Shaliach. They have the power to reject your recommendations.

@mysterious-tomato-10057 do you have a way to track matanos l'evyonim from some taxable source to e.g. kids collecting on street corners etc. on Purim

If it is a custom to give Rabbi of Shul $ for being an agent in selling chametz, would that money be considered Maaser?