Make a Gift with a Donor-Advised Fund
The Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is an increasingly popular way to make a charitable gift. DAFs can provide you with immediate tax benefits while making your charitable giving easier. Here are two simple ways you can make a gift through your DAF:
- Make an outright gift now by recommending a grant to Columbia University.
- Create a succession plan to recommend that Columbia University receive all or a portion of the fund value upon the termination of the fund.
You can select the option that best suits your philanthropic and financial goals to support the Columbia University. Just contact your Donor-Advised Fund administrator to recommend a grant to Columbia or to discuss a succession plan.
If you include Columbia University in your plans, please let us know and be sure to use our legal name and federal tax ID.
Legal Name: The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
Address: 622 West 113th Street New York, New York 10025
Federal Tax ID Number: 13-5598093
Creating a Donor-Advised Fund
Creating a donor-advised fund can provide you with immediate tax benefits while making your charitable giving easier for years to come.
How It Works
You establish a Donor-Advised Fund at a sponsoring charity. This could be a community foundation, a public charity with a Donor-Advised Fund program, or even one of the well-known financial services companies that sponsor Donor-Advised Funds. Check with the sponsor about the minimum contribution required to start a Donor-Advised Fund, which typically range from $5,000 to $25,000. The sponsor may allow you to give your Donor-Advised Fund a unique name. Then, make an initial contribution to start your Fund. You can contribute cash or appreciated assets such as stocks or mutual funds. You’ll get an immediate income tax charitable deduction for your contribution that could reduce your taxes if you itemize.
Once established and funded, you can recommend that your favorite public charities, such as Columbia University, receive grants from your Donor-Advised Fund. Most Donor-Advised Funds have a minimum grant recommendation, or you can recommend distributing the entire balance of your Donor-Advised Fund for a cause important to you.
You do not get an additional income tax charitable deduction for these grants.
You can also create a succession plan with your Fund sponsor to recommend that some or all of the remaining assets in your fund at your passing go to Columbia and other charities that are important to you.
Columbia University is grateful for grants that come from Donor-Advised Funds. If you are considering establishing a Donor-Advised Fund, we can suggest several sponsors for your review. You should also consult your professional advisor for guidance.
DONATE NOW: Give From Your Donor-Advised Fund
To make a gift now through your DAF, simply type in the name of your DAF and click the button below to go to your fund's login page.
Creating a Non Columbia Donor-Advised Fund
Creating a donor-advised fund can provide you with immediate tax benefits while making your charitable giving easier for years to come.
How It Works:
You establish a fund at a sponsoring charity. This could be a community foundation, a public charity with a donor-advised fund program, or even one of the well-known investment companies that sponsor donor-advised funds. First, check with the fund sponsor about the minimum contribution to start a fund as it ranges from $5,000 to $25,000. Then, make an initial contribution to start your fund of cash or appreciated assets such as stocks or mutual funds. You’ll get an immediate income tax deduction and some sponsors will even let you name your fund.
Once established, you can suggest that your favorite public charities, such as Columbia University, receive grants from your fund. The grants can be relatively modest or larger for projects such as a capital campaign or a new building.
You do not get an additional tax deduction for these grants. You can also suggest which charities you want to have any remaining assets in your fund at your passing. Columbia University is grateful for gifts that come from donor-advised funds.
If you are considering establishing a donor-advised fund we can suggest several fund sponsors for your review. You should also consult your professional advisor for their guidance.
Columbia Donor-Advised Funds
How It Works:
- You make a tax-deductible gift of $1 million or more to Columbia to establish a donor-advised fund now and later advise on how you would like the University to use the gift.
- While you are considering what your donor-advised fund will support, the gift is then invested with other managed assets in the University’s endowment—which is managed by the Columbia Investment Management Company. As the fund harnesses the power of Columbia’s professionally managed endowment and grows over time, the donor gives recommendations for the distribution of both the original gift and the fund’s income and investment growth.
- Generally, half of these distributions must remain at Columbia; other eligible charities may receive up to 50%. Many donors who are either considering or currently have a private foundation like the fact that donor-advised funds can function very similarly to a foundation without all of the complicated administration.
Benefits:
- Professional Investment Management: all donor-advised funds are invested in Columbia’s endowment.
- Tax Advantages: you receive an immediate tax deduction when you make a donor-advised fund gift.
- Flexible: at least 50% goes to Columbia, and the rest may be distributed to other eligible nonprofit organizations.
- Cost Effective: Columbia does not charge any fees for the fund administration.
- Time-Saver: unlike a private foundation that requires time to administer, Columbia administers all matters that relate to a donor-advised fund, including investments, distributions, and reporting.
- Privacy: when a foundation is created, its tax forms are made public—exposing details of the foundation’s operations and even some personal information. In comparison, a donor-advised fund offers the donor more privacy because no information is available when the fund is established.
Minimum gift level: $1 million; $250,000 for additional gifts