You feel blessed by the life you have.  Part hard work, part grace.
You want to share that blessing with others, but you want to do it smart. 

Our Most Popular Giving Tool: The Donor Advised Fund

Smarter Gifting

Lower Taxes

Joyful Kingdom Impact

Donor Advised Funds are the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicle in the United States because they are one of the simplest and most tax-advantageous ways to give to charity.

  • Think of a Donor Advised Fund as a combination charitable investment account and your own family foundation. 
  • We help you donate cash or non-cash assets, and we handle the time-consuming and administrative aspects of your charitable giving.
  • Your Donor Advised Fund can outlive you.  Long after you’re in heaven, your children, grandchildren, and beyond can inherit the joy of generous giving.
Open a Donor Advised Fund Today

The Journey of Joyful Giving

A Little Bit of Ohio Can Go a Long Way

Until recently, Rob and Pat’s story wasn’t very unusual: they raised three kids in Northeast Ohio, supported their church and served their community. Then things took an unexpected turn.

When they learned the property they owned was suddenly—and surprisingly—valuable due to the discovery of an abundance of oil and gas reserves buried far beneath the surface, a whole new world of opportunity opened up for them.

Faced with this sudden and unexpected windfall, Rob and Pat had a deep sense that the Lord had entrusted this wealth to them, and they had a personal responsibility to steward His resources wisely. 

After much planning and prayer, they donated 25% of the interest from the royalties earned on the oil and gas to IHS Foundation. This charitable gift of property with mineral rights provided an immediate and substantial tax benefit to help offset their own income (decreasing their own out-of-pocket tax burden by potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars over many years). 

The revenue from the oil reserves that are paid to the foundation for the next few decades will be deposited in Rob and Pat’s Donor Advised Fund (DAF). It is then immediately available for charitable giving at their direction. 

In addition to supporting ministries and charities important to them in their lifetime, Rob and Pat plan on leaving the responsibility of their DAF to their children in the future. 

“Without individuals, nothing changes.
Without institutions, nothing endures.”

You’re the individual with the capacity to change the world (or somebody’s world) that we’re here to serve. 

Here’s How a Donor Advised Fund Works for You:

You Make a Gift

You make a tax-deductible charitable gift of cash or non-cash asset such as stock, personal property, business ownership, retirement accounts, real estate, and more to IHS Foundation.

IHS Foundation Manages the Gift

The value of your donated asset is credited to your Donor Advised Fund, which we’ll invest in the market for growth, or preserve the balance in a money market account—your choice.

You Make a Grant

At any time you can contact us directly to recommend a grant be made from the balance of your fund to the nonprofit organization of your choice.

You Bless a Nonprofit

The nonprofit organization you blessed receives the payment from us along with a letter that lets them know the gift came from your fund (or you can choose to remain anonymous).

Is a Donor Advised Fund Right for You?

Learn from these friends of IHS Foundation why Donor Advised Funds are the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicles in the United States and most tax-advantageous ways to give to charity.

  • Get Tax-Free Growth & Support Charities at Your Pace

    Anne’s tax preparer told her that making a year-end charitable contribution would offer her a meaningful tax benefit. She didn’t like feeling rushed to choose which charities to support. 

    Instead, making a one-time gift to her DAF allowed her to receive the full tax benefit of her charitable contribution that calendar year, and it also gave her an unlimited amount of time to decide when and where her charitable dollars would eventually go. 

    While she waited, the money was invested tax-free in the market, growing her giving capacity over time. 

  • Maximize Tax Benefits & Simplify Record-Keeping

    Mike was ready to sell the family lake house for $600,000 and wanted to support the local pregnancy center with half the proceeds of the sale. Prior to selling, he gifted 50% ownership to IHS Foundation. This charitable donation significantly reduced his taxable income. After the sale, IHS Foundation credited Mike’s DAF with $300,000, and he received one simple charitable giving receipt. 

    Mike knew making a large, one-time gift would complicate the pregnancy center’s budget. Instead, IHS Foundation could make recurring, smaller gifts to the pregnancy center for years to come at Mike’s direction, while IHS Foundation handled all the record-keeping. 

  • Donate Property Assets for Substantial Tax Savings

    Richard was planning to sell $20,000 in appreciated stock to make a gift to his church’s building fund. A friend gave him a better idea: donate the stock to the church instead, that way Richard wouldn’t pay upwards of $4,000 in capital gains taxes from the sale. 

    When the church secretary said she didn’t think the church was set up to receive a gift of stock, Richard laughed and said it was OK. He gifted the stock to IHS Foundation and the full value went to his DAF. At Richard’s direction, IHS Foundation mailed a check to the church for $20,000. 

Your journey to a lifetime of joyful Kingdom impact begins here.

Open a Donor Advised Fund Today

Donor Advised Fund Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is a community foundation?

    Community foundations are public charities that are dedicated to supporting the common good through philanthropic giving. We bring together, grow, and deploy the financial, creative, and problem-solving resources of individuals, families, and organizations to support the work of nonprofits locally in Northeast Ohio and around the world. 

  • How does a Donor Advised Fund work?

    Think of a Donor Advised Fund as a combination charitable investment account and your own family foundation. Here’s how it works:

    •  You make a tax-deductible charitable gift to IHS Foundation. 
    • That amount is credited to your Donor Advised Fund, which we’ll invest in the market for growth, or preserve the balance in a money market account—your choice.
    • At any time you can contact us directly to recommend a grant be made from the balance of your account to the nonprofit organization of your choice: ministry, church, school, zoo, orchestra, food bank, etc.
    • The nonprofit organization receives payment from us along with a letter that lets them know the gift came from your fund (or you can choose to remain anonymous). 
  • What kind of assets can I donate?

    Cash gifts are easy, but other gift types offer unique tax benefits. You can donate many types of assets, with all proceeds going to your Donor Advised Fund: stock and mutual find shares, real estate, physical property, business ownership, life insurance, and more. 

    Unique to IHS Foundation, we invite you to donate your IRA’s required minimum distribution. Read more here. 

  • Should I choose a Simple or Invested Donor Advised Fund?

    Some of our fund types allow the fundholder to choose how their fund is allocated. Depending on your unique objectives and timelines, one option may be better than the other for you.  

    • Simple funds are placed in our money market account and earn no interest (growth), but they are also not exposed to market volatility (potential loss). 
    • Invested funds are invested in the market according to the donor’s preferences in one of four risk lanes (conservative to aggressive). 

    Read more about our Simple and Invested Funds: Simple or Invested Fund with IHS Foundation?

  • Are there any minimums to open a Donor Advised Fund or a minimum grant size?

    There is no minimum amount needed to open a Donor Advised Fund with us, and there is no minimum grant size.  Your fund will be opened when you donate your first gift of cash or non-cash asset to IHS Foundation. 


  • Are there restrictions on when I have to give the money away?

    No. You can give it all away at once, or your Donor Advised Fund can grow for years in the market while you decide when and who you want to support. 

  • Can I give to causes that aren’t explicitly faith-based?

    Yes. We ask our Donor Advised Fund holders to orient their giving so that roughly 50% of their overall giving goes to Christian ministries. Our fundholders use their fund to support churches, hospitals, schools, the arts, and a variety of charities that benefit the community. 

  • Can I pass my Donor Advised Fund to the next generation?

    Yes! Your Donor Advised Fund can outlive you. Long after you’re in heaven, your children, grandchildren, and beyond can inherit the sacred gift of Christian stewardship. We’re happy to assist you with your estate planning goals. 

  • Can I make grants to an individual from my fund?

    No. In general, only qualified organizations (nonprofit organizations, churches, schools, etc.) may receive a grant from your fund. Some fundholders support individuals through a sponsoring organization (for example, helping to fund a missionary). 

  • Is there any reason why my grant recommendation might be declined?

    Generally, no. However, to comply with government regulations, IHS Foundation cannot approve donor-recommended grants that provide anything more than an incidental benefit to the donor, supports lobbying, political campaigns, or other political activities, or supports a charitable event that could constitute a quid pro quo arrangement (e.g. tickets to a golf outing or fundraising dinner). Additionally, IHS Foundation will not approve a grant recommendation to an organization that is directly hostile to or contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ. 

  • What fees does IHS Foundation charge for a Donor Advised Fund?

    Our invested funds have an annual 1.25% administrative fee and approximately .6% finance fee. 

    Our simple funds (earning no interest in our money market) have an annual .5% or $100 administrative fee, whichever is greater.