$10 Billion Intersection of DAFs, Crypto, NFTs, and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals

A Chronicle of Philanthropy article titled The $10 billion charity no one has heard of, republished by AP, highlights a large dollar intersection of several modern developments, including donor-advised funds (DAFs), blockchain-enabled assets such as cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. From the story:

The SDG Impact Fund, based in Cartersville, Georgia, grew from $238 million in assets in 2020 to $10 billion in 2021. That eye-popping growth, which seems to have been fueled by the meteoric rise of cryptocurrencies and digital art assets, has prompted some questions from philanthropy and tax experts.

Those questions relate to common concerns about DAFs, including anonymity of donors and the lack of a required payout to operating charities, the connections of board members of the charity (SDG Impact Fund) to the crypto industry, and questions about valuations of donated cryptocurrency and NFTs that likely constitute much of the almost $10 billion in reported 2021 noncash contributions. The payout level is especially low, representing less than 0.1 percent of its asset base in 2022.

Lloyd Mayer