Donor Advised Funds

Opening your fund

Opening a Donor Advised Fund is simple and straightforward, and there are no set-up or legal fees involved. You can open a fund with a first contribution of any size, for which you may take an immediate and full tax deduction even if you intend to recommend grant distributions at a later date.

Contributing assets

You can contribute to your Donor Advised Fund whenever it suits you, and claim an income tax deduction in the year of the contribution. Myriad USA can receive gifts by check, wire transfer or credit card, and also gifts of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate and other types of property. Corporations can contribute to their fund from various sources, such as a corporate giving program or a corporate foundation. Individuals can contribute from an existing giving vehicle such as a private foundation or a Donor Advised Fund held at a community foundation or national fund. They can invite friends and relatives to contribute as well.

Investing assets to generate income (optional)

Funds with balances over $250,000 may be allocated to one of three investment pools, allowing them to earn income and grow tax-free over time. In case of fund balances over $750,000, you may recommend that their management be entrusted to an investment advisor of your choice.

Making a grant distribution

You can make recommendations for grant distributions from your Donor Advised Fund at any time. The grant minimum is $5,000. If you don’t have a favorite organization in mind, we can help you identify premier nonprofit initiatives in the country, region or your field of interest. 

Myriad USA will contact the recommended grantee to request information on their governance, financials, and activities. Our risk management and due diligence process ensures that grant monies are used for legitimate charitable purposes. As part of that process, we follow either Expenditure Responsibility or Equivalency Determination guidance depending on the grant activity, and we leverage our team of global experts to ensure sound compliance with local country requirements where the grantee is based. All grants are approved by our Board of Directors and followed by a grant agreement and annual reporting as required. Reach out to our team to learn more about the steps we take in our due diligence process.  

Fee structure

For Donor Advised Funds without invested assets: 
Each grant distributed from the Fund will be subject to a management fee, calculated as follows:
5% of the first $100,000 of each grant;
3% of the next $400,000;
1% of the next $500,000;
and 0.5% of the amount of each grant in excess of $1,000,000. 

For Donor Advised Funds with invested assets: 
The Fund will be subject to an investment fee of 70 basis points per year (that is, 0.7% of the Fund’s invested assets – 0.175% assessed quarterly). No fees will be charged on grants distributed from the Fund.

This fee structure is all inclusive – there are no other legal, due diligence or maintenance fees involved.