Leveraging donor-advised funds for exit planning success

Exit planning requires early conversations to maximize the financial and philanthropic benefits of a business transition. Yet, strategic philanthropy remains an underutilized lever in traditional exit strategies.

Join Vanguard Charitable executives Mark Froehlich and Jodi Rosen at the 2026 Exit Planning Summit on April 19-21 in Nashville Tennessee for "The Third Lever in Exit Planning: Using Philanthropy as a Strategic Asset." Attendees will discover how integrating a donor-advised fund before a liquidity event can unlock hidden value, manage risks, and optimize tax outcomes that traditional strategies alone cannot achieve.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Discover the benefits of adding a DAF

Once a donor opens a Vanguard Charitable account, they immediately have access to expert service and guidance, support for donating complex assets, and a curated list of low-cost investment options. The philanthropic support provided by a Vanguard Charitable DAF is oftentimes crucial to those with private foundations seeking to expand their philanthropy without increasing the cost of bringing on additional resources or expertise.

If you’d like to start experiencing these benefits for yourself, open a Vanguard Charitable donor-advised fund today.

4. Discover more charities for your generosity

For Vanguard Charitable donors, finding new charities to support is as simple as logging in to their online account and searching the charity database by charitable mission, region, and more. Vanguard Charitable does all the due diligence and gets grants out the door as recommended by our donors.

A DAF also allows donors to donate when it suits their financial plan and then recommend grants on a flexible timeline. With a DAF, you can cross “finding all the right charities for donations” off your ever-growing year-end checklist.

But if you haven’t yet created your Vanguard Charitable DAF account, we can still help you find a charity to support. Visit our Discover Charities page, where you can find resources for your search, lists of charities, and more.

DISCOVER CHARITIES

Simplify your year-end planning with a donor-advised fund (DAF)

Charitable tax planning is a strategic way to support the causes you care about while optimizing your tax plan. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy.

That’s where we can help. With a Vanguard Charitable DAF, you can manage your charitable contributions more efficiently. You can donate a variety of assets to your account and then recommend grants to multiple charities over time. A DAF also simplifies your record-keeping while charitable assets can potentially grow over time, increasing the amount available for future donations.

Whether you’re a seasoned philanthropist or a first-time donor, consider enhancing your giving with these resources and using a DAF to make your giving tax-effective and impactful all year round.

How do I mail documents to Vanguard Charitable?

Documents can be mailed to Vanguard Charitable at the following addresses.

Standard mail:

Vanguard Charitable

PO Box 980

Burtonsville, MD 20866-9998

By registered, certified, or overnight mail:

Vanguard Charitable

11850 West Market Place, Suite P

Fulton, MD 20759

Back to FAQ

Strategic giving begins with a Vanguard Charitable donor-advised fund

Act before this window of opportunity closes!

Did you know that adding a donor-advised fund (DAF) to your philanthropic strategy, even if you already have a private foundation or community foundation, could increase your giving potential? Giving vehicles can be used strategically and in tandem to support efficient, impactful philanthropy.

Discover how Vanguard Charitable is supporting lean funders and how private foundations and community foundations can leverage donor-advised fund tactics to amplify mission and streamline operations. We'll be sharing more at the Annual Exponent Philanthropy Conference on November 11-13, 2025. We look forward to seeing you there.

Connect with us and enter a raffle for your favorite charity!

We want to be your partner in strategic, impactful charitable giving to amplify your Foundation's mission and streamline operations. Fill out our contact form and potentially win a grant for a charity of your choice!

I can’t find the charity I’d like to grant to in my Vanguard Charitable account. Can I suggest it be added?

If you’re unable to find your desired charity in our database, you can use the Suggest a Charity feature to submit the organization for review.

Search the database by selecting Grants à Discover Charities and search by the charity’s name or EIN (Employer Identification Number). Tip: Use “Advanced Filters” to narrow your results.
Can’t find the charity? Click the Suggest a charity that appears below the search bar. Enter the required details of the charity’s legal name and EIN.
- An EIN is the unique number assigned by the IRS to every U.S. nonprofit. You can often find it on the charity’s website or by contacting the charity directly, using the IRS Exempt Organizations Search, or by searching “Charity Name + EIN” in a search engine.
- If the EIN does not exist in our system: You’ll be prompted to enter the charity’s mailing address, a contact name, phone number, and/or email address.
- If the EIN already exists in our system: You’ll see the charity appear in the results and you can proceed to recommend a grant. Note: If the record is for a parent entity (e.g., a national headquarters), you can specify your intended chapter or affiliate in the grant purpose field. Submit a grant recommendation. A grant must be recommended before our due diligence process can begin.

What happens next?

Due diligence typically takes 2–10 business days.
You can track updates in your Notification Center.
If the charity is eligible, we’ll begin reviewing your grant recommendation. If it’s not eligible, you’ll receive a notification in your online account explaining why.

Back to FAQ

How do I edit a recurring grant schedule?

We know that sometimes plans change. If they do, it’s simple to manage recurring grants right in your online account.

To locate your recurring grant schedule you’d like to manage:

Log in to your online account.
On the Manage Grants page, click on the Grant Schedules tab to view your schedule activity.
- Please note that you can only modify schedules with a status of Entered or Active. Schedules with a status of Complete or Canceled indicate that no additional payments will be issued.

To edit your recurring grant schedule:

Once you’ve located the schedule you would like to edit, click View & Edit on the righthand side.
Scroll to the section you would like to edit and click the Edit button. For example, edit the sections Charity, Amount, or Purpose.
Once you’ve made your changes, select Next in the lower right corner.
Ensure that you accept the disclaimer and click Submit Grant to save your changes.

To cancel your recurring grant schedule:

Once you’ve located the schedule you would like to cancel, click Cancel on the right-hand side.
- Please note that this action will only cancel future dated payments with a status of Not Scheduled.

Learn how to recommend a grant.

Learn how to set up recurring grant schedules.

Back to FAQ