When you donate to a DAF, you get a tax deduction. But no charity gets any money. In fact, that money might not go to an actual charity doing actual good for decades!
The only people that benefit any time soon from you putting money into a DAF are you and the DAF custodian. In fact, sometimes the DAF custodian benefits a lot! Vanguard’s fee is relatively low, but there are plenty out there charging 1% a year or even 1.5%.
In reality, there are really only six reasons to use a DAF and they’re all pretty darn niche. The vast majority of charitable givers don’t need to use one.
If you just can’t decide what charity you want to support, but want to get the tax deduction for the contribution this year and give to charity eventually, then it’s probably reasonable to use a DAF.
If you’re giving to “feel good” rather than to help others, then happiness studies suggest that giving small amounts at frequent intervals are best. In fact, using a DAF can help you feel good twice-once when you put it in the DAF and once when you take it out of the DAF!
If your donation is so huge that it is going to really mess up the charity’s future planning, I suppose using a DAF to spread donations out could make sense