It’s been an historic year of growth as we continue to broaden our suite of charitable giving solutions to support private foundations, advisors and nonprofits. Our recent acquisition of Vennfi, the financial technology company powering Charityvest, is another exciting milestone as we now offer an industry-leading donor-advised fund (DAF) platform. As we continue to expand our capabilities, one thing remains the same: our commitment to make giving easier and more impactful through modern giving experiences. So, what do the next few months look like—and what can our clients and the philanthropic sector expect as we evolve, integrate and innovate together? There’s no one better to ask than our new President of DAFs, Stephen Kump. We caught up with him to ask some of our most burning questions, and we must say, his excitement is contagious. Enjoy the read and be sure to keep an eye out for more insights from Stephen and our team of experts in our new DAF Series.
Q: Welcome to Foundation Source! What are you most excited about as we integrate the team?
A: It’s great to be joining! For me, business is about people: the people you work with and the people you impact. We wanted to join Foundation Source because we felt like we had the same DNA for both excellence and doing good. That’s an [unfortunately] rare combination. It’s got us excited about what we can achieve together, which points to the people we can impact: Americans who give, charities doing some of the most meaningful work there is, and the people they directly influence. Is there a more inspiring work formula than that? How can we not be excited?
Q: Can you tell us about yourself and what drew you to the world of philanthropy?
A: I’m a management-consultant-turned philanthropy advisor. Years back, I discovered I could use my analytical skills from consulting to help high-net-worth families be more strategic with their giving, and I dove right in. I helped over 20 families give more than $100M across five continents and hundreds of charities.
It was while I was a philanthropy advisor that I saw the donor-advised fund space needed technology. My clients regularly had complaints about their DAFs. As I asked questions on their behalf to their DAF-sponsoring organizations, it all seemed to come back to the technology (or the lack thereof). There were only two real providers of software to DAF-sponsoring organizations, and both were legacy systems. I felt like someone needed to jump into this space and build a modern software company for DAFs, and thus, we started the company that has recently joined Foundation Source.
Q: Can you please tell us about your role and your team?
A: I lead the newly created donor-advised fund team at Foundation Source. We partner with our sales and product teams to deliver world-class DAF technology solutions to our partners. Our DAF team members are already working closely with their functional team members (sales, engineering, marketing, etc.) within Foundation Source.
I also work closely with and serve on the board of Charityvest, the DAF with which Foundation Source has a strategic partnership. Through it, Foundation Source can now offer DAFs for consumers, white-labeled DAF programs for financial advisors and corporate giving (matching) programs for companies.
Q: Foundation Source (and its affiliates) sits at the unique intersection of philanthropy, wealth and technology. How does your unique experience help us lead and innovate to address the changing needs of key stakeholders, including private foundations, nonprofits and advisors?
A: It’s about having the best tools for a job. Like the process of building a house, the “job” of philanthropy is abstract and the process can be unique to each donor. Sometimes you need one tool, and other times the circumstances call for different ones—all in the cause of building something beautiful.
We are adding DAFs as another tool for Foundation Source’s sphere of influence, both presently and in the future. Our experience and software can help serve more donors in more circumstances.
Players in the wealth management space are already recognizing this need for different philanthropic tools. Many have been eager to find their comprehensive philanthropic partner who can handle any client circumstance or desire around philanthropy, and I’m excited Foundation Source can provide it for them going forward! Hearing the demand for it in the market was one of the key reasons we were excited to join Foundation Source.
Q: PhilTech, software solutions that facilitate giving, has tremendous potential to make charitable planning practical and cost-effective. How do you think PhilTech has and will continue to evolve?
A: Everyone wants giving to become more seamless with life and more cost-effective, right? It will continue to make big strides.
How it will evolve will be interesting to observe. Certainly, we believe donor-advised funds will continue their ascent in the philanthropy space. We think they are about where 401(k)’s were in the late 80s or early 90s—well-known but not yet mainstream. Mainstream feels inevitable in another 10 years.
Furthermore, the integration of technology into every aspect of our lives stands to also integrate philanthropy into more of life.
And lastly, the rise of AI will bring more and more personalization, data-driven curation and transparency into giving—potentially changing how people make giving decisions significantly.
The next decade should be interesting!
Q: It’s giving season and DAFs are quickly growing because of their simple, flexible structure. Can you share some scenarios where a DAF could make sense for our foundation clients?
A: Yes, let’s mention five quick ones:
- Meeting your distribution requirement: If you just need a little more time to make a grant decision, you can put dollars in a DAF, and it will count toward your distribution requirement. We do recommend granting it out the following year, if possible.
- Making small grants: Put funds in a DAF and make all the foundation’s small grants there instead. The DAFs have already built low-cost grantmaking payment systems that get money to charity quickly.
- Giving anonymously: You can transfer money to your DAF, then grant to charities anonymously by clicking one additional button when grantmaking (on Charityvest).
- Claiming a higher income tax deduction: If you are making a big contribution to your foundation this giving season, one consideration is the AGI thresholds on public charities (which DAFs are) are higher. You can give to your foundation up to its AGI threshold, then give into a DAF until you meet the public charity threshold. You’ll achieve a higher income tax deduction that way.
- Engaging folks in collaborative giving (personal and corporate): You can invite other people, such as family, friends or employees to give alongside you in collaborative funds (on Charityvest). You can also set up matching programs with a corporate DAF.
Q: Can you tell us about the relationship between Vennfi & Charityvest?
A: The easiest way to think about the two and their relationship is vendor and customer.
Vennfi is the DAF software company we built (and Foundation Source has acquired) which provides software to run DAF sponsors, and Charityvest was its first customer. Charityvest is an independent 501(c)(3) public charity and donor-advised fund sponsor. It has its own charitable board that governs it, of which I’m just one member.
As Foundation Source acquired Charityvest’s software partner, Vennfi, it will continue to fully support Charityvest. Through that partnership, it can offer DAFs to Foundation Source’s private foundation clients, white-label programs for wealth managers and workplace giving programs for corporations.
Q: What are your first priorities over the next 90 days?
A: Our first 90 days will be all about deepening relationships. First, with the Foundation Source clients for whom our new DAF capability can be relevant. And second, with the financial institutions that would value a combined private foundation and DAF solution.
Q: What should donors and advisors know as we head into year-end?
A: The holidays are a wonderful time to spread the spirit of giving. One neat thing we’ve seen in year’s past is donors using the Charityvest gift card feature to create a DAF for kids or grandkids or to give employees, customers or partners a small amount to grant in their own name as a holiday appreciation gift. The gift card feature creates a DAF for the receiver and moves some of the giver’s DAF balance into the DAF for the receiver. These gift cards are digital, the receiver doesn’t need to already have an account, it must go to charity (fraud proof), and it takes seconds to execute. You can read more about it here. It’s a simple way to give a meaningful gift.
Q: Two years ago, you launched Charityvest investments—your biggest feature ever. What are some other capabilities on the horizon that you think will have the biggest impact on helping people live lives of greater generosity and helping to efficiently resource impact?
A: Investments was a big one. But one year ago, we launched Community Funds— the first fully-online, collaborative DAF functionality (that we know of!). It enables donors to give into a common DAF together on a common webpage. Then the fund manager(s) can make grants from the DAF, and then be as transparent as they desire. Most of our funds are fully public about their grantmaking activity. We’ve already seen millions of dollars join together in collaborative giving. It’s been fun.
We are also integrating impact investing and philanthropy advising in our DAF experience. Imagine a world where giving with colleagues, friends or family can turn into an impact investment in minutes. That’s a better world. We’re in the process of bringing that about.
Q: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for our joined teams in the coming months and years?
A: The role of the wealth advisor in the future of our society is as robust as ever. Not because of what they do, per se, but because of the role trust plays in what they do. This applies to philanthropy as well. Giving a significant amount requires trust that is often downstream from a wealth advisor.
Building next-gen PhilTech functionality across giving vehicles (DAFs, planned giving and private foundations) to partner closely and comprehensively with wealth advisors and their firms or institutions around philanthropy will be an unlock for more wealth being given.
Only Foundation Source can achieve this, and I believe it is a platform that needs to exist. It’s going to unlock opportunities for our combined team to partner with many more groups in the wealth landscape. I’m pumped about it!
Want to learn more about our recent DAF platform acquisition?
Read the full release.
Have a question about year-end giving?
We’re here to help! Contact us or call 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.
