By Daniel Staffenberg, Executive Director

One of the most enjoyable parts of my job is helping individuals and families find the best vehicles to achieve their philanthropic dreams. It usually starts with a conversation about one of the most underutilized and best tools in our Jewish Community Foundation portfolio, the Donor Advised Fund (DAF).

A DAF is a philanthropic vehicle established at Jewish Community Foundation of Greater MetroWest (JCF). It allows donors to make a single charitable contribution, and then recommend grants from the Fund over time. The tax advantages of a DAF are substantial, which largely explains why they have exploded in popularity in recent years.

We have opened a great many funds over the last 12 months. Donors establish DAFs for a variety of reasons, including removing assets from their estate, streamlining the work required to support multiple charities, and/or creating a fund through which multiple generations of their family can work together on their philanthropy. The creation of a DAF at JCF provides a means for all of these goals and many more. Plus, when a donor creates a DAF, he or she retains the right to recommend to JCF that we make grants from the Fund to any qualified 501(c)(3) charity.

Some of the families who established DAFs last year wanted to reduce their potential future tax exposure but were not sure where they wanted to give. By creating a DAF, they received a tax deduction for the full amount of their 2014 gift while retaining the right to suggest in the future that grants be made to charities of their choosing.

Another family was considering creating a private family foundation but didn’t want to take on the start-up expense and ongoing administrative responsibilities, or be exposed to the public reporting that private foundations require. They created a DAF at JCF so they could work on their philanthropy as a family, give anonymously, and take advantage of the more than 65 years of experience JCF brings as a partner for administrative, investment, and philanthropic responsibilities.

Finally, I worked with a family who contributed appreciated securities to create a DAF, thereby avoiding the capital gains taxes they would have faced had they sold the securities themselves.

DAF holders can make additional donations to their Fund — and suggest grant recommendations — throughout the life of the fund. They can also recommend how funds are allocated among JCF’s four professionally managed investment pools.

A DAF isn’t right for everyone, but it can help many reduce taxes, avoid the hassles of establishing a private foundation, and provide families a way to collaborate on grant recommendations. To learn more, please call me at (973) 929-3060.

And while it may seem early to be thinking about year-end planning — after all, we are just about to welcome in the Jewish new year of 5776 — the end of 2015 is on the horizon, so there is no better time than the present.