FAQs
Answers to questions you may have as you get started with Charityvest for Advisors.
As you get set up on Charityvest for Advisors, you may have questions about the program and/or the platform. We invite you to direct all program-related questions to your firm's program manager and all platform-related questions to the Charityvest team (support@charityvest.org).
Here are some common questions we thought might be valuable to address, organized in accordance with the overall structure of this guide:
✅ Getting started
Should I move clients over to my firm's custom giving platform if they have an existing DAF?
It's easy to move a client DAF to your firm's giving platform, if you wish. You likely have one or more clients with existing donor-advised funds at other sponsoring organizations. Though you are not required to move any of your existing client DAFs to your firm's custom DAF program, we encourage you to compare it to their existing DAF. We also recommend that you open any new client donor-advised funds via your firm's giving program.
Here are several reasons why clients love Charityvest for Advisors, including a modern, technology-driven client interface, access to your firm's custom portfolios and values-aligned giving opportunities.
With your firm's DAF program, asset transfers from other donor-advised fund sponsoring organizations are as easy as requesting a grant. If you wish to move an existing client DAF to your firm's custom DAF platform, follow these written and video instructions to complete a DAF transfer on behalf of a client.
How can my assistant access my advisor account?
Share your advisor account login. Once you create your advisor login credentials, you can share them with your team to help you open client donor-advised fund accounts, make contributions on behalf of clients, manage client investing, share giving opportunities, assess advisory fees, and retrieve client tax statements.
For security purposes, only share your login information with your trusted associates.
What fees apply to Charityvest for Advisors donor-advised funds?
It depends. With Charityvest for Advisors, you can choose between two DAF account types for each of your clients:
Invested (default): The balance of this donor-advised fund account is invested in your choice of your firm's custom portfolio options, with the option for you to assess a customary advisory fee. A standard admin fee also applies on this account type.
Cash: The balance of this donor-advised fund account is held in cash, but is free to use. This is recommended for low balance accounts.
With Invested accounts, the most your client would pay is the sum of your firm's chosen advisory fee, along with a maximum of 45bps allocated to the admin fee (depending on balance).
To learn more about how client fees work with your firm's custom giving program, review this detailed information on pricing.
💼 How advisors use Charityvest for Advisors
What forms will advisors or clients need to sign?
None. If you have experience with other donor-advised fund providers, you may be anticipating a list of required forms that you and your client must sign to initiate account activity. With Charityvest for Advisors, there are no forms. Here is why your clients are able to experience the joy of giving, form-free:
No investment advisor agreement. Your firm has entered into an advisory relationship with Charityvest. All donor-advised fund accounts opened through your custom DAF platform are governed by this agreement.
No client agreement. When you open a donor-advised fund on behalf of your client, your client becomes a client of Charityvest. Both you and your client are donor-advisors to funds contributed irrevocably to Charityvest.
No client IPQ. Since assets in a donor-advised fund do not belong to you or your client, a client IPQ is not required. However, it is always a good idea to discuss your clients' intentions and goals prior to investing. Here are some DAF resources to help you navigate a client conversation about donor-advised funds.
With your firm's custom donor-advised fund program, opening a client account is seamless. If you are ready to invite your first client, follow these written and video instructions to open a client DAF account.
What do I do if my client already has a Charityvest account?
Invite them to your firm's custom DAF platform. It is possible that your client has an existing Charityvest donor-advised fund account. If so, you can invite them to move their account to your firm's program, instantly.
Since they already have a Charityvest account, you can invite them to your firm's program by using the email associated with their Charityvest account.
They will receive an email request to approve you as their advisor. Once they accept this request, you will be able to view and manage their profile from your advisor account.
To invite a client with an existing Charityvest account to join your firm's branded experience, follow these written instructions.
Sending an invitation to a client with an existing Charityvest account? Be sure to use the email address that is associated with their existing Charityvest account, otherwise you will create a second account in their name.
Does Charityvest for Advisors support complex asset donations such as real estate or business interests?
Yes, via a best-in-class partner. For specialized donations, Charityvest for Advisors partners with a purpose-built complex gift acceptance firm to receive, report, custody, liquidate, and distribute proceeds for such assets. Our partner firm, Charitable Solutions, has nearly two decades of experience and has processed nearly $1 billion in non-cash gifts from individual donors into their donor-advised funds at various sponsors.
To learn more about how complex asset donations work at Charityvest for Advisors, review this more detailed information on our partnership with Charitable Solutions.
Interested in making a contribution of a complex asset on behalf of a client?
Contact support@charityvest.org to get started with complex asset giving today.
Does Charityvest for Advisors support qualified charitable distributions from a client IRA?
No. As per IRS regulation, it is not possible for a donor-advised fund to receive qualified charitable distributions (QCDs).
Since client accounts on your firm's giving platform are legally designated as donor-advised funds, clients will not be able to leverage their DAF accounts for their IRA distributions.
We recommend you still encourage clients to make the most of QCDs through giving to qualified 501(c)3 charities.
Your client is still welcome to make a contribution to their donor-advised fund account via IRA, though their distribution would count towards their annual income for tax purposes.
To learn more about why Charityvest for Advisors cannot support QCDs, review this detailed information covering IRAs.
Where are DAF assets custodied?
Charityvest brokerage partners. As the donor-advised fund sponsoring organization for your firm's custom giving program, Charityvest has partnered with digital-first broker Alpaca Securities LLC to custody and provide an operationally efficient, no-hassle DAF solution. For mutual funds, Charityvest partners with Atomic via BNY Mellon Pershing.
To learn more about Charityvest, review this detailed information covering legal structure and compliance matters.
How does rebalancing work?
Rebalancing happens automatically. With Charityvest for Advisors, Invested accounts will automatically rebalance to target based on the model portfolio you select as an advisor.
If a client requests a grant, invested assets are automatically liquidated to fund the grant.
To learn more about how rebalancing works through Charityvest for Advisors, review this detailed information on automatic portfolio rebalancing.
What is the minimum to invest?
$0. There are no minimums on Invested or Cash account types through your firm's custom giving program.
As an advisor, you can select from your firm's selection of custom investments for any client, down to $0 in DAF balance.
To learn more about account minimums with Charityvest for Advisors, review this detailed information on client fee structure.
What are my investment options?
Your firm's selection of custom portfolios. At this time, you can select from portfolios curated by your firm.
To learn more about your investing options, contact your firm's Charityvest for Advisors program manager.
Can I turn off my advisory fee?
Yes. With Invested accounts the advisory fee portion is optional. As an advisor, you have the option to turn off advisory billing for any of your client DAFs at your discretion.
To turn on or off your advisory fee for a client donor-advised fund, follow these written instructions.
🎁 How clients use Charityvest for Advisors
What will my client see when I invite them to Charityvest for Advisors?
A beautiful interface for giving. The account view you have as an advisor slightly differs from what a client sees when they receive an invitation to your firm's custom giving platform.
For clients, Charityvest for Advisors unlocks an easy-to-use giving platform to make contributions or grants, support and lead collaborative giving opportunities, send virtual gift cards, designate beneficiaries, and retrieve annual tax statements.
To learn more about your client's experience, review this detailed information on how clients use Charityvest for Advisors.
How can I help my client make a grant?
Share resources from the public Charityvest guidebook or recommend a philanthropic advisor. As an advisor, you are not able to make grants to charity on behalf of a client. You can share values-aligned giving opportunities and track the status of client grants.
As a trusted stakeholder in your client's financial life, they may lean on you for guidance when looking to make a grant from their DAF account. Some key aspects of the grantmaking process include:
Recommending a grant. For clients, it is fee-free to recommend a grant to charity via your firm's custom-branded DAF. To recommend a grant to any of the 1.4 million+ eligible 501c3 charities, they can follow the instructions provided in the Charityvest public guide.
How grants are sent. We send grants to charities daily via PayPal and weekly via check, after we review each grant for compliance with IRS Code. To track the status of a grant, your client can follow the instructions provided in the Charityvest public guide.
Funding a grant. When a client recommends a grant, we'll deduct from their existing DAF balance to cover the grant amount. For clients with an Invested account, we automatically liquidate the invested assets as needed and rebalance their portfolio to target. To learn more about how grants are funded, your client can review more detailed information provided in the Charityvest public guide.
For more structured guidance, you can offer our selection of philanthropic advisor partners to your clients as needed.
Curious to learn more about your firm's custom DAF program? Contact your firm's program manager for program-related matters or Charityvest (support@charityvest.org) for platform-related matters.
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