NOW
IS THE TIME
FOR MASSIVE
ACTION
By Zach Clark
IF
YOU ARE SERVING in a Christian school or
ministry, it is our firm belief that now is the time to
take massive action to grow significant giving that moves
you forward.
Americans are at a profound moment in our economic
history. At the time of this writing, we are experiencing
the second longest running bull market of all time, when
share prices are still rising overall, and buying is still being
encouraged. In turn, this is directly leading investors, your
potential donors, to feel a sense of opportunity and urgen-
cy in finding and giving to deserving, impactful organi-
zations. Will they choose your ministry or organization?
A great deal of this depends on you and your intention-
al efforts to help givers understand your vision, plan, and
the steps you are seeking to take with their support. But to
move forward, we must identify some of the assumptions
that hold us back. Let me explain.
Despite this historic and massive build-up of wealth,
we see many leaders in faith-based organizations contin-
ue to struggle with feeling overwhelmed, short on
resources, and concerned about the potential giving in
their community. In short, they feel very limited in a time
of remarkable abundance.
A lack of resources is simply not your problem at this
time. There are billions of dollars being given, and remark-
ably, many billions are currently set aside in a relatively
new philanthropic giving tool known as donor-advised
funds. Perhaps what we perceive to be a scarcity of funds
available for our ministry is actually a lack of inspiring
opportunities for the giver to give generously.
A donor-advised fund is a relatively new invention in
the financial landscape that benefits all nonprofit organi-
40
zations. Think of it as a simple and low-cost personal foun-
dation a generous person can establish with the stroke of
a pen. From a donor-advised fund, a giver can direct gifts
or “grants” to nonprofit organizations they choose. An
individual makes gifts through the year to their donor-
advised fund and takes a tax deduction in the year these
gifts are made, just as you would if you gave to any
nonprofit ministry, organization, or church. The dollars
are no longer theirs, but they retain some control over how
they are invested, and then they can advise or direct these
funds to organizations at any time in the future. In the
meantime, while the donor is deciding when and where to
direct these gifts, they can be invested in a mutual fund or
other investment vehicle and actually grow.
According to the Wall Street Journal in 2017: “... Assets
held by such funds have exploded. Nearly 270,000 indi-
vidual DAF accounts (including 10% of our firm’s clients)
now hold close to $80 billion in assets with the average
account at about $235,000, according to data for 2015
from the National Philanthropic Trust. But of the $22
billion added to DAFs in 2015, less than $15 billion was
paid out to charities. So this stash-in-waiting for Ameri-
ca’s charities will soon top $100 billion.”
Did you catch that? Currently, in 2019, this amount now
exceeds over 110 billion dollars that have been set aside
for giving to nonprofit organizations. Keep in mind that
donors have already taken a deduction on these dollars;
in a sense, they have been “given.” However, they have yet
to be directed by donors to organizations that can make
the most of it.
My point here is not to applaud or criticize the concept
of donor-advised funds but to help you change your