Donor Advised Funds

Another way to remember the Church (diocese or parish) with one’s gifts of assets.

How do they work?

  • Donors establish an account with the Catholic Foundation by opening an endowed or provisional donor advised fund (DAF).
  • Periodically the donor(s) contact the Catholic Foundation and recommend that a grant be made.  With an endowed DAF, only earnings may be distributed on an annual basis.  The principal (or corpus) can never be distributed.  With a provisional DAF, both earnings and principal may be distributed and this may be done on up to a quarterly basis.
  • A minimum of 50% of each grant from donor advised funds must be given to agencies of the Diocese of Rockford.  The remainder of each grant, 50% or less, may be given to other qualified 501(c)(3) charities of the donor’s choice.  No grants will be made to organizations that violate the moral principles and teachings of the Catholic Church.
  • Grants cannot be used to satisfy an existing Diocesan or parish pledge.

Benefits to donors include:

  • Accounts can be established in the donor’s family name, allowing loved ones to be memorialized.
  • They are easy to establish with none of the administrative headaches and fees of private family foundations.
  • They are flexible and allow the donors to recommend grant recipients; both within the diocese as well as with other charities they may wish to support.
  • Donor’s can temporarily “park” charitable dollars at the end of a tax year and receive a charitable tax deduction in the year they make the gift(s).
  • Donors can add to their fund at any time and receive the satisfaction of seeing their fund accomplish its objective during their lifetime.
  • DAFs can be endowed, allowing donors to recommend grants of earnings only or provisional, allowing donors to recommend grants of both earnings and principal.

Additional information / Application:

Donor Advised Fund Policy
Donor Advised Fund Application
Donor Advised Fund Distribution Request

If you have unanswered questions or want someone to contact you about a gift to your parish or school, please Contact Us!