5 Reasons Why Modern Nonprofits Should Prioritize DAF Day

August 19, 2025•3 min read

Will it eventually surpass Giving Tuesday?

I have to admit, I've never been a fan of Giving Tuesday.

I remember when it first started — and the idea that we should be fundraising on the day when most peoples' credit card debt is sky-high from Black Friday and Cyber Monday seemed ill-advised.

And the Giving Tuesday messages that flood everyone's inbox feel more and more hyper-emotional every year.

The day still gets a lot of attention every year, but I know so many leaders of small and medium sized organizations who don't feel like it works for them.

So during my recent Proimpact Pod interview with Mitch Stein from Chariot, I was struck by a potential hot take — will DAF Day become bigger than Giving Tuesday?

And even if it doesn’t, it’s already a perfect fit for modern organizations ready to reboot their giving strategy....

5 Reasons DAF Day Is a Perfect Fit for Modern Orgs

DAFs are exploding in size — $250B+ committed as of 2023, growing ~30% annually for participating nonprofits.
DAF donors give dramatically more — up to 10× more per gift compared to credit card donations.
Builder and Optimizer "personas" love bold visions — they’re more open to funding growth, scale, and transformation.
Multi-year commitments are common — perfect for big initiatives like tech upgrades, staff expansion, or program scaling.
DAF donors focus on outcomes, not overhead — making them ideal partners for investments that drive long-term impact.

Giving Tuesday and DAF Day: Side By Side

When you put those details side by side with Giving Tuesday, it becomes even more clear why DAF Day has even more exciting potential for modern organizations.

Giving Tuesday: Asking donors to pull out their credit card and make another expenditure... right after the biggest spending weekend of the year.
DAF Day: Asking donors to log into a DAF portal and make a transformative transfer of funds that they've already committed to charitable giving.

Giving Tuesday: Blasting emails with highly emotional messages.
DAF Day: Personalized outreach to more analytical donors about transformative investments in long-term growth.

Giving Tuesday: Mostly focused on one-time, small-dollar gifts.
DAF Day: Positioning for multi-year, high-impact commitments.

How To Design Your DAF Day Campaign Around Transformation

For years, nonprofits have complained it’s hard to raise money for “overhead.” DAF Day flips that challenge into an opportunity.

DAF donors — especially Builders and Optimizers — think like investors. They want to know what you’ll do with their capital and what return (in impact) they can expect. That’s why DAF Day is the perfect moment for campaigns about scaling impact, modernizing infrastructure, or making big bets.

The two questions you need to ask — and answer publicly — are:

What investments will you make? (Tech, staff, automation, marketing, new facilities, etc.)
What results will those investments deliver? (Clear metrics for expanded reach, improved efficiency, or greater impact.)

When you show donors how today’s investment fuels tomorrow’s transformation, you speak directly to their DAF mindset — and unlock funding they’ve already set aside for this very purpose.