A Simple Way to Amplify Your Charitable Impact

One of the most common questions I hear from clients is: ‘How can I maximize the impact of my charitable giving?’ 

#HalfMyDAF offers a compelling answer: matching grants for donations from your donor-advised fund (DAF). 

The concept is elegantly simple: Make a pledge to actively use your DAF, give to the organizations you already support, and submit those gifts for matching grants through HalfMyDAF.com. Twice each year, hundreds of donations are randomly selected to receive matching grants up to $5,000 (with two lucky winners receiving $25,000). 

#HalfMyDAF is a philanthropic initiative, founded in 2020 by two Brighton Jones clients seeking to encourage DAF holders to activate the more than $326 billion sitting in donor-advised funds around the country (Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy). They have since built a large community of donors committed to spending down their DAFs and deploying charitable capital now. 

Since launching in 2020, #HalfMyDAF has helped move $97 million from DAFs to hardworking nonprofits, including $26 million in 2025 alone. 

From parking lot to launch pad 

Donor-advised funds are powerful philanthropic tools. They offer immediate tax benefits, tax-free investment growth, and the convenience of strategic, flexible giving. But somewhere along the way, many DAFs stopped being launching pads for generosity and became long-term parking lots for capital.  

More than $326 billion currently sits in DAFs across the country. That’s capital earning returns while nonprofits face unprecedented funding gaps as they work to address climate change, fight poverty, advance education, and support communities. 

The opportunity cost is real. Every year that money sits idle is a year it’s not funding research, feeding families, or creating change. 

#HalfMyDAF creates urgency and incentive to activate that capital now. By offering matching grants, they encourage more donors to accelerate the impact they were already planning to make. It’s a mechanism that benefits everyone: Donors see their gifts go further. Nonprofits receive funds when they need them most. And communities benefit from resources deployed in real time. 

How you can get involved 

There are several ways to engage, depending on your situation. If you’d like to discuss how #HalfMyDAF could fit into your broader wealth alignment strategy, we’re here to help you think through it.  

If you have a DAF and are ready to put it to work
Visit halfmydaf.com and commit to spending down your DAF (it only takes a few seconds). Then, use your DAF to continue giving to the nonprofits you already support. Submit the donation receipts for your grants to #HalfMyDAF, using the simple online form to make them eligible for matching funds. (Or ask your Brighton Jones advisor to submit them for you, we’d love to help!) 

The next matching deadlines are June 18 and October 8, 2026. Donations submitted by those dates become eligible for available matches. Any submissions not selected for a match in June are automatically entered into the October pool.  

If you’re interested but not sure if spending down your DAF makes sense right now
When and how to make grants from your donor-advised fund is a personal and strategic decision, and one you should definitely discuss with your advisor. In some cases, your advisor may not recommend rapidly spending down your DAF right now. Many of our clients front-load DAF contributions in high-income years, while others pace grants over time or coordinate giving with estate planning. Your individual considerations and outcomes will vary based on your situation.

If this isn’t the right time for you to make the #HalfMyDAF pledge, there are still lots of ways you can support organizations you care about and promote greater awareness around DAF donations (see below). 

If you don’t have a DAF
You can always consult your advisor to determine if a DAF would make sense as part of your overall strategy, but even if you’re not using the program yourself, there are other ways to amplify the impact: 

• Become a #HalfMyDAF funder by contributing to the #HalfMyDAF matching fund pool (as Brighton Jones has). This makes more matching grants available to nonprofits and motivates other donors to give. 

• Introduce nonprofits you support to #HalfMyDAF. It’s a powerful engagement tool for organizations, and #HalfMyDAF has resources to help nonprofit fundraisers promote this opportunity to their donor base.  

• Spread the word. #HalfMyDAF is a community-led organization, and you can help by sharing stories and letting others know that there are ways to amplify the impact of their gifts. 

If you’re not sure where to start with your giving strategy
Our Impact Advisory team provides resources and guidance to help you identify causes that align with your interests and passions, connect with aligned organizations, and give strategically in support of your goals and values.  

Why we support #HalfMyDAF 

Brighton Jones is proud to be both a funder of #HalfMyDAF and an operational partner.  

It may seem counterintuitive for a wealth management firm to be encouraging our clients to move money out of their accounts. We get compensated based on assets under management, so, generally, the more we manage, the more we earn. 

But our mission isn’t to maximize assets under management—it’s to help our clients live richer lives. And we’ve learned that richer lives don’t come from accumulating capital. They come from aligning your resources with your values and putting them to work in service of what matters most. That’s wealth alignment: helping your money create the impact you envision—in your lifetime, on your terms.  

Our clients, the visionaries 

#HalfMyDAF was founded by longtime Brighton Jones clients Jennifer and David Risher, who have spent years as leaders in the impact space. Jennifer’s work, including her book We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth, challenges the taboos around money and advocates for more intentional, urgent philanthropy. David co-founded and led Worldreader, a nonprofit whose mission is to get children reading so they can reach their potential. 

Their vision for #HalfMyDAF isn’t just about moving money – it’s about building a movement. They see it as a grassroots effort to fundamentally shift how we think about DAFs: from wealth storage vehicles to engines of immediate impact. 

Activate your impact 

We believe a richer life is about aligning your resources with your values and passions. Your time, your talents, and your money all compound in impact when you put them to work. 

#HalfMyDAF is wealth alignment in action, it helps turn good intentions into meaningful impacts and ‘someday’ into ‘right now.’  

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as individualized advice. For individualized advice tailored to your specific circumstances, please consult with your adviser. Testimonials were provided by current clients of Brighton Jones. The clients were not compensated. Client testimonials are not representative of the experiences of all Brighton Jones clients and do not provide guarantee of future performance or similar services.