Quick synopsis: DAFs (like ours) are legally unique – they are allowed to send fully anonymous donations to other charities/nonprofits on behalf of donors like you. Just make sure to write in a registered charity/nonprofit/church/university on our donation form and we will send it as a donation from the AnonDo Fund – leaving your identity completely removed from the transaction, but still allowing for you to receive a tax deduction for the amount donated.
The AnonDo Fund operates as kind of a non-traditional charitable organization. It is a sponsoring organization for what is a called a donor advised fund (DAF) and it also effectively acts as a privacy buffer for all donors. DAFs are unique in that they are legally able to send donations on behalf of other people completely anonymously, while still providing a tax deduction. The AnonDo Fund collects donations from donors alongside recommendations from donors as to where they would like for these donations to be sent. As long as a donor chooses a registered 501(c)(3) organization (any well-known charity, nonprofit, university/school, church, foundation etc. will likely be covered) the AnonDo Fund will send the donation to the organization recommended to us by the donor.
For example, let’s say Bob fills out our donation form and indicates that he would like for his donation to be sent to SAMPLE Charity. His donation goes through the platform and then arrives in the AnonDo Fund. The AnonDo Fund sends a donation to SAMPLE Charity on Bob’s behalf completely anonymously, a legal maneuver in which DAFs are lawfully allowed to engage. The donation will go to SAMPLE Charity as a donation from the AnonDo Fund, with no mention ever of Bob and without any of his personal information.
A visual flow:
We have to mention that, legally speaking, once you send a donation to a DAF, a DAF can send it to whichever organization they would like. However, the AnonDo Fund DAF is 100% committed to sending the donations to the organizations recommended by our donors and fully believes in supporting the choice of all donors who engage our organization. The AnonDo Fund is a safe haven for donors of all types. It is important to note that you must recommend a registered 501(c)(3) organization as the destination of your organization! Our partners at Silent Donor will perform due diligence on your behalf and will contact you if you have recommended an organization that is not a 501(c)(3). If you choose an organization that is NOT a charity or nonprofit (that does not have a 501(c)(3) distinction), then the Fund will be unable to send your donation to that organization. To avoid this problem, please use this IRS tool to search and see if an organization is a charity or nonprofit with a 501(c)(3) distinction – you can click to “Search By” and choose “Organization Name” from the drop-down menu.
DEMOCRATIZING ACCESS TO DAFS – THE ANONDO FUND ACCEPT DONATIONS AS LOW AS $50
The AnonDo Fund, through its partnership with Silent Donor, uniquely accepts donations as low as $50. Usually, if you are utilizing a complex financial vehicle like a DAF to send an anonymous donation, minimum donation amounts are usually set at $5,000, but can be as expensive as $25,000 just to open an account! This obviously prices out many donors, making DAFs and their legal protections unavailable to most donors. The AnonDo Fund allows for all donors to take advantage of the numerous incentives offered by DAFs – most notably complete anonymity – with donations as low as $50. This low $50 barrier to entry is working to democratize access to DAFs, which are financial tools that are used mostly by wealthy donors, or donors who have a long-term view of their philanthropic endeavors. We provide access to average and wealthy donors with these tools, so everyone can send fully anonymous and secure donations.
Normal DAFs operate this way: donors put money into them to receive immediate tax breaks, and then the money can simply sit in the account and accrue gains/losses as they are invested. Once a donor decides where to send this money, they can make a recommendation and the DAF will send it along to the charitable organization they have chosen. Oftentimes, this money sits in DAFs untouched for years! The AnonDo Fund operates a little differently. Donors have to send in a recommendation for where they would like to send the donation as soon as they donate. This is to make sure donors are not simply dumping their money into a DAF, and instead will ensure that the AnonDo Fund is actively sending out donations every month to the benefit of charitable organizations and people around the world. The Anondo Fund also does not invest any of the donations. Instead, it sends out each donation on the final day of each month, unless a donor specifically requests to wait.
The AnonDo Fund is a federally registered 501(c)(3) organization (tax id: 87-0879423). If you send a donation through the secure Silent Donor platform, you will receive an automated tax-deductible receipt from the AnonDo Fund for the amount donated – this receipt will NOT list the organization to which you have chosen to donate.