Need some advice for a DAF. My requirements: • Low account and investment Fees • No minimum grant amount • No giving fees for donor • No minimum yearly distribution • Physical Checks What I have looked at already: • The donors fund - has a 5% mandatory yearly distribution • Fidelity - minimum $50 grant amount Any recs that would fit my requirement?

I'll switch if you find one with all those things.

I am very happy with Fidelity even with the $50 minimum and a small annual fee ( I get 50% off via my employer). There is an interesting comparison here:

What do you guys do with the random collectors in shul? Give 50$ to each?

In Baltimore you can give a donation to the aguda to get fake money that you give out that the collectors need to redeem. I've been told this is common so that Rabonim can validate and control the collecting.

From https://www.thedonorsfund.org/guidelines

The Donors' Fund will distribute a minimum of 5% as an overall between all our account holders on a yearly basis. If we haven't reached this goal after a fiscal year, The Donors' Fund will reach out to account holders who have not had grant activity of at least 5%. If the account holders do not make grants within 6 months following the notice, The Donors' Fund will have funds from those accounts distributed to qualified charities.

The Donors Fund distributes significantly more than 5% of its funds each year. I don't think its something you need to worry about. I don't know why that entire section is there at all (but I'm curious now so I'm going to find out).

I just tap my phone on their cc machine

https://frumfinance.slack.com/archives/C04FDN85LE4/p1734581942112219?thread_ts=1734575000.278329&cid=C04FDN85LE4 @curved-toothbrush-84425, im not sure what you mean by not to worry about this. This is exactly what I am nervous about is when things go south and they are not distributing 5% from all their accounts, I don’t need them quoting their terms and then having my money dumped in shlezingers charity without my permission. The fact that such a thing would be within the terms of service is mind boggling.

Private foundations are required to distribute 5% yearly, it looks like DAFs aren't. I wonder if the Donor's Fund is structured as a foundation or if they just misunderstood something, or if they really also have the 5% requirement. Regardless it sounds like they would reach out to you and you could donate to a cause of your choice

Personally I am very much against the Donor Fund and all other “Jewish” DAFs because they rip off the charities with their fees. IMHO the charity should never be charged for the basic service to just getting the money from donors.

If I remember correctly, most of the “Jewish” DAF’s have an option where the donor can pay for the fees.

the money is taken away from the org, whether the mosid pays or the donor pays is immaterial

When the donor pay for the fees they will charge the organization?

it's coming from the donors finite amount of tzedaka either way

The amount of tzedaka money that goes to events, copywriters, graphic designers, marketers, commissions, prizes etc etc is disconcerting. I would guess the % that comes from the DAF is a fraction of all of the other peripherals, though that's only an excuse if it comes instead of the rest instead of in addition.

that is why i don't mind fidelitys $100 a year, but i do mind paying fees for each and every transaction that far surpasses that

The minimum donation amount is what really bothers me with fidelity, not the fees. I want a stack of 18$ certificates to give out, not 50$.

Yeah I hear that. In Baltimore I can buy those certificates from the agudah so it's not an issue for me.

re: fees, most non-Jewish DAFs don’t charge a percentage per transaction. I don’t mind a flat fee per account or something that is based off my account balance, but a fee on every transaction is a no no for me. The service they are providing is for the donor, not the charity since the donor is the one that wants the immediate tax benefits, tracking, etc.

Link to the dozen times we've gone through this haha https://frumfinance.slack.com/lists/T04EHDDPGTY/F07KU9LRR28

I don't know about other Jewish DAFs but other than the microgoving fee (for grants under $100) The Donors Fund allows giving completely free unlike DAFs such as Fidelity Charitable which have at least some guaranteed fees. If you use the value added services such as the giving card or certificates there are fees, but those options aren't available at all for the big DAFs. So going with those isn't saving on fees, you could just not use those services. If you tend to keep a low balance, give a lot of grants under $100, and don't care about the value added services, Fidelity Charitable is a better fit for you because of TDFs microgiving fee. Otherwise TDF (and possibly other DAFs) provide better value by giving more options and not charging any fees unless you use the additional services. There is absolutely no "ripping off" of charities.