Did you know there’s a simple way to support a charitable organization you care about and the broader Jewish community in greater Ann Arbor with a single donation? The local Jewish Community Foundation makes this process simple through its Donor Advised Fund (DAF) program. A DAF, available to anyone to open, offers a streamlined way for individuals to maximize their charitable giving, while also providing flexibility and tax advantages.
A DAF operates like a philanthropic savings account. Once you open a DAF, you can contribute assets, often as a single large transaction, to receive an immediate tax deduction. Once the funds are in the DAF, you can recommend their disbursement to a charitable organization of your choosing, regardless of whether it’s local, or whether it supports Jewish causes. The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Ann Arbor manages the fund for you and carries out your disbursement recommendations, making the process efficient and hassle-free.
The Foundation’s DAF program is an accessible option for those looking to give charitably over time. A DAF can be established with just $5,000, and those funds can be disbursed over any period of time in increments of $100 or more—a lower and more accessible threshold than many similar programs.
For those looking to ensure that their philanthropic legacy lives on after their lifetime, donors have the option to establish a succession plan for their DAF. Such plans can specify that any remaining monies be distributed to specific charitable organizations as a legacy gift, or they can designate family members to continue recommending grants from the DAF. A succession plan not only safeguards the donor’s values and intentions but also, if the donor chooses, enables their family to continue their charitable mission with clarity and purpose.
Beyond the benefits to the individual, a DAF offers opportunity to make a difference for the Jewish community broadly. Disbursement grants, issued under the Foundation’s name, may be sent to a wide range of nonprofits, promoting a message of Jewish generosity to organizations that may never have thought about the Jewish community before. Additionally, holding a DAF with the Jewish Community Foundation means that the administrative fees from those funds stay in the community. The revenue from the fees is directly re-invested by the Foundation and has supported major Ann Arbor area community initiatives like the Life & Legacy program, the 2023 Community Study, and a new community-wide Jewish event platform called JLive, which is expected to debut locally in fall 2025.
If you would like more information about opening a Donor Advised Fund with the Jewish Community Foundation, or creating a succession plan for your current DAF, please reach out to the Jewish Federation’s Life & Legacy Manager, Osnat Gafni-Pappas, at osnat@jewishannarbor.org (734-773-3538). The Jewish Community Foundation is overseen by the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor.