Donor-Advised Funds

Create a charitable account that is professionally managed and administered by the ELCA Foundation while providing input on its distributions to ministries and organizations. The ELCA Foundation Donor Advised Fund is invested in the ELCA Ministry Growth Fund, receiving stable quarterly distributions with underlying growth through market investments alongside the endowments of the ELCA and more than a thousand ELCA congregations, synods, and ministries. These investments all follow the Corporate Social Responsibility guidelines of the ELCA, which ensure that your investments make a difference before they’re even distributed.

Here’s how it works:

• You establish and name a donor advised fund (DAF) with the ELCA Foundation through Lutheran Planned Generosity of South Dakota (LPGSD).
• The fund will be established with named adviser(s) — typically you, the donor(s) — who will recommend grants from the fund. LPGSD will assist you in deciding the future of the donor advised fund by establishing successor advisers, a future transition to a named endowment or final distribution of assets.
• The DAF can be funded through gifts of cash, stock, marketable commodities or other assets, including gifts of real estate, closely held stock, subchapter S corporate stock, LLC interests, and partnerships.*
• You receive an immediate tax deduction when you contribute cash, securities or other assets to a DAF.
• Funds in your DAF are able to grow tax-free, and distributions can be made via a grant recommendation from the advisor(s) of the fund.
• These distributions can support your congregation, ministries, and favorite charities. By involving family members in making grant recommendations, many families use their donor advised fund to teach younger generations about giving.

*Any proposed gifts of such assets must be reviewed in advance with the ELCA Foundation and the donor’s tax adviser.