Campaign for a New TKP Kitchen!

Teen Kitchen Project logo with teal cooking pot and orange heart-shaped steam.

Donor Advised Funds

Recommend a grant through your DAF: Donor-Advised Fund

Are you a DAF holder?
You can now give to Teen Kitchen Project from your Donor-Advised Fund. *

In addition to recommending immediate or recurring grants to Teen Kitchen Project from your donor advised fund, you can name TKP as the full or partial beneficiary of your fund — ensuring future support for TKP’s mission.

Donate from hundreds of DAF providers including but not limited to:
Santa Cruz County Community Foundation, Fidelity Charitable, Community Foundation of Monterey County, Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, Schwab Charitable, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The Donors Fund, UBS and Vanguard Charitable.

Donor-Advised Funds FAQ’s

What is a Donor-Advised Fund?

A donor-advised fund, or DAF, is an investment account that is used for charitable giving. Donor-advised funds are considered the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicle in the United States. DAFs can be relatively inexpensive to create and maintain, while also offering donors some ability to manage their tax situation through giving.
It is composed of donations made by individuals and administered by a third party. The third party is called the sponsoring organization. A donor-advised fund offers an immediate tax relief and allows you to support your favorite charities immediately or over time.

How does a Donor-Advised Fund work?

A donor makes an irrevocable gift to a donor-advised fund and receives a tax deduction for the year the gift is made. Once the contribution is made, the sponsoring organization has legal control over the funds and the donor can make grant recommendations to the charity of their choice.

Are there any rules to owning a Donor-Advised Fund?

The IRS has specific guidelines around the kinds of organizations that are eligible to receive grants as well as the purposes these grants can serve. For example, grants can only be made to qualified charities and cannot be made to a person, or the donor cannot receive more than an incidental benefit, so it cannot be used for the admission price for an event of the gala.

What’s the difference between a Donor-Advised Fund and a direct donation?

The donor-advised fund donor receives tax documentation from the sponsoring organization of the DAF while a direct donor receives tax documentation from the charity.

What are the benefits of a Donor-Advised Fund?
  • Simple to establish
  • Flexible funding options
  • Easily Accessible
  • Tax advantage
  • Typically requires no minimum distribution
  • Anonymous granting
  • Investment options
Is there a tax deduction for Donor-Advised Funds?

Yes, the donor-advised fund donor receives tax documentation from the sponsoring organization of the DAF.

*For more information about donor advised funds, please contact Associate Director of Development Matt Bergdahl

#HalfMyDAF2025

 Teen Kitchen Project is participating in the #HalfMyDAF movement in 2025, providing us with the opportunity for donations to have an even bigger impact. Since 2020, the #HalfMyDAF community has awarded over $70 million in grants.

Over $250 billion sits in Donor Advised Funds across the country. The goal of #HalfMyDAF is to move that money to nonprofits like ours by randomly giving away unrestricted matching grants. If you are a DAF holder and commit to spending down half of the money that was in your DAF on January 1st by September 26, 2025, all the grants you make to us and other nonprofits will be eligible for a match from #HalfMyDAF.

#HalfMyDAF will make dollar-for-dollar matches of up to $5,000 on June 27, 2025, and again on September 26, 2025, out of a pool of $2.25M in unrestricted funding—and four lucky nonprofits will get matches up to $25K.

The more donors who commit to spending down at least half of their DAF and give to us, the more likely we are to receive a match. Whether you have a DAF with Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard or a Community Foundation, simply direct your gift to Teen Kitchen Project for the chance to double your impact.

Please consider supporting Teen Kitchen Project from your DAF today!

You can learn more about #HalfMyDAF at halfmydaf.com. Thank you for your support and please spread the word.