The Philanthropic Family

What an interesting concept from Davlin Fund Advisors: Invest in their Davlin Philanthropic Fund and they will donate a portion of the fees they earn to (up to) three organizations you choose from their approved charities list. 

A New Definition

The president of Davlin Fund Advisors says in the press release that ”Davlin Funds enable what we have termed ‘sustainable giving,’ which means that investors can make a 30, 40 or even 50 year commitment to their favorite charities without giving up ownership of their assets or loss of return.” 

This isn’t the way I would have defined sustainable giving, but I think it’s quite interesting.  They seem to be hanging the definition on the fact that the charitable capital behind the donations won’t be used up, rather than on the continual replenishment of new charitable capital flowing to the charity. 

There is a list of about 400 approved charities clearly designed to offer something for everyone, from the United Negro College Fund to the United States Golf Association.  Investors may change charitable beneficiaries annually but I’m betting most will stick with one for the long haul. 

As such, if you can convince your existing donor base to invest some of their nest egg in the Davlin Philanthropic Fund, you can increase the ways they support your organization without asking them to take any more money out of their pocket. 

A Few Questions

Check out www.davlinfunds.org for more information on the fund.  A few tidbits I didn’t see there but that I’m curious about:

1. Individuals can buy shares with an investment of just $2,500 ($1,500 for an IRA).  With $2,500 invested, how much would go to charity each year?  (From a charity’s perspective, I’m wondering how many investor donors they need for this to really be sustainable or a significant source of income).
2. What is the fund going to invest in?  I looked at the prospectus but I’m no financial advisor.  It doesn’t look to me as though it’s investing in anything particularly socially responsible, just says it’s taking a “value investing approach” where the fund looks for companies that are undervalued.  Too bad. 

Get on the “Approved Charities” List

The mutual fund will actually make a single donation to the Davlin Foundation, which in turn dispenses grants to the approved charities in amounts no less than $100.  The Davlin Foundation is a private foundation that seems to be operated a lot like a Donor Advised Fund.  You can find the Frequently Asked Questions on the foundation here.

For those of you wondering how to get on the list to receive donations, the foundation lays out the following criteria:

1. The charity must be a 501(c)3 public charity.
2. The charity must have a current, impressive, donor-friendly, website.
3. The charity must be at least five years old.
4. If the charity has an advocacy program, that must be supplementary and subordinate to more substantive activities.
5. If the charity is faith-based, its programs must be open to people of all faiths.
6. The charity must be of general philanthropic interest—addressing broad public issues and raising money from the general public—as distinct from charities of local interest, or of internal interest only to its membership.
7. The charity must provide benefits directly to the public rather than being a conduit of funds to other charities.

“If your recommended charity meets the Davlin Foundation criteria above, please e-mail your suggestions to Charities@DavlinFoundation.org.  Please make sure that your e-mail includes the website address of the charity.  The Foundation’s Board only meets quarterly, so please allow time for them to review your suggestion.”

Tags: charity, corporate social responsibility, Davlin funds, philanthropy, sustainable giving

This entry was posted on July 21, 2008 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Giving Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.