DAF Reporting & Receiving Grants – GiveCampus University

GiveCampus is thrilled to be offering DAFpay as an additional option for donors to complete their gift on GiveCampus. DAFpay is a unique payment method as the dollars will be distributed directly from the DAF itself instead of from GiveCampus. As such, the reporting for DAF gifts is slightly different. Here's what you need to know about reporting, receiving grants, and recommendations for processing DAF initiations on GiveCampus.

Biographical Information & Notes:

Pre-Payment Form Information:
- You will receive the same biographical information on DAFpay donors as any other gift.
- Donor will be prompted to enter the same fields from the pre-payment form as any other donation on GiveCampus.
Notes & Updates within DAFpay:
- Within the DAFpay widget, donors have the option to update their address information and add Notes about their DAF gift. These updates will also be reflected in your GiveCampus reporting

GiveCampus Reporting

The fields below are available via GiveCampus custom reporting and the GiveCampus Gift API.

Updates to Existing GiveCampus Reporting Fields

payment_processor: This reflects which processor the gift was processed through (i.e. Stripe, PayPal). Output:
- DAFpay
card_type: This reflects the specific payment method used (i.e. Venmo, ApplePay, Visa). This will reflect the specific DAF provider. Output:
- Ex: Fidelity Charitable
- To see a full list of DAF providers that may reflect in the output for card_type, click here.
note_content: If the donor added a note about their gift within the DAFpay widget, it will be reflected here.

GiveCampus Reporting Donation Dates & States

dateof_pledge:
DAF grant distribution has been initiated by the Donor. The donor has completed the GiveCampus form.
dateof_capture:
Grant distribution request has been confirmed by Chariot and will be sent by the DAF.
(Similar to a credit card approving a transaction).
dateof_deposit: blank
GiveCampus and Chariot do not have insights into when the DAF sends grant distributions.
authorized:
DAF grant distribution has been initiated by the Donor
paid:
Grant distribution request has been confirmed by Chariot and will be sent by the DAF.
(Similar to a credit card approving a transaction)

New Fields:

daf_fund_id
- The ID of the DAF provider
daf_grant_id
- The unique ID of the DAF grant itself
daf_tracking_id
- The tracking ID of the grant.
- This will be included when you receive the DAF funds, if available*

Receiving DAF Grants from DAFpay

Your organization will then receive all DAFpay gifts from each DAF provider directly as they typically arrive, usually via electronic fund transfer (EFT) or mailed check. You can check out Chariot's resource on DAF provider wait times to get a sense of when you can expect your gift.

DAF gifts will not show in GiveCampus deposit reporting
DAF gifts will have a Tracking ID*
- This tracking ID can be found in a number of places:
  - Reporting: daf_tracking_id
  - Manage Gifts: Search by the Tracking ID to find the appropriate donor
  - Gift Notification Emails: Add the daf_tracking_id to your gift notification emails
The Tracking ID will be included with the gift when it arrives from the DAF provider
When you receive the gift from the DAF, match up the Tracking ID with your GiveCampus reporting to see full information about the donor who initiated the grant request.
How designation names appear to DAF providers
- When a donor selects one or more designations on a GiveCampus form and pays via DAFpay, GiveCampus sends the DAF provider a single, comma‑delimited string of the selected designation names. This string is limited to 100 characters; if the combined names exceed this limit, the string will be truncated, even mid‑name.
- This update increases visibility in DAF provider portals by displaying multiple designations rather than only the first one. It helps both donors and institutions reconcile gifts more easily in the provider's interface.
- Note that GiveCampus reporting remains the authoritative source for full gift and designation details. Even though the string sent to the DAF provider is limited, you can always view the complete list of designations in custom reports and Manage Gifts for accurate stewardship and accounting.

DAF Grant Requests & Your CRM

Traditionally, your school may learn about a DAF gift in two ways:

A donor proactively lets you know they've initiated a grant
A check or EFT arrives as your school

With DAFpay, you'll get reports and notifications as soon as a donor initiates a DAF request, but it may take several days to a few weeks before the gift arrives, depending on the DAF provider. Still, we expect 99%+ deliverability, meaning when Chariot indicates a DAF gift has been initiated, you will receive it. Your team will want to decide how you handle the grant initiation in your CRM.

The most important thing you can do is find the path of least resistance to enable DAFpay. So, you may start with Option 1, and slowly graduate into Option 2.

Below are a few common approaches.

Option 1: Change Nothing About Your Current Process! Wait to Add DAFpay Gifts to your CRM Until Gift Arrives

Acknowledge and steward the donor ASAP
- You may want to update your gift confirmation emails to include DAF information so your team is notified of DAF gifts as soon as they are initiated.
Do not add the gift to your CRM until the grant is received – just like most other small DAF gifts you get day-to-day
Look for the "Tracking ID" and "Gift through DAFpay" message in the grant note
- The ‘Tracking ID’ will correspond with the daf_tracking_id from your GiveCampus report*
Note: many schools wait to import gifts until the deposit date is available via the API or other gift reporting – in this case, the DAF gift never populates with the deposit date, since that currently occurs via mail. If this is your setup, no changes are required for Option 1.

Option 2: Log the gift right away

Many schools recognize gifts as revenue when they are processed – such as when the donor “swipes their card” virtually or initiates a paypal gift / venmo payment
Treat DAFpay gifts the same way – you are assuming deliverability, just like you are with ACH payments or other gifts.
Log them in your CRM right away, and add a small business process to check for that existing DAF gift when the check arrives

Option 3: Treat DAFpay Gifts Similar to a Non-Binding Pledge

Receive notice of DAFpay gift on GiveCampus and reflect that in your CRM ASAP, similar to a pledge
Acknowledge and steward the donor ASAP
Update DAFpay gift as ‘received’ once the grant is received from the DAF provider
Look for the "Tracking ID" and "Gift through DAFpay" message in the grant note*
- The ‘Tracking ID’ will correspond with the daf_tracking_id from your GiveCampus report

* Please note, some DAF providers do not send DAFpay Tracking IDs. If the Tracking ID and DAFpay note are not available, first check for an External Grant ID. If you cannot find one, use the donor’s fund name, gift amount, and other grant details to match the inbound gift to the correct DAFpay donation line item.

Questions?
Reach out to support@givecampus.com

DAF Gift Visibility in GiveCampus

What you CAN see in GiveCampus:

DAF gifts initiated through your GiveCampus DAFpay option
These gifts appear in your standard donation reports and campaign totals
DAF payment method is clearly identified in reporting

What you CANNOT see in GiveCampus:

DAF gifts initiated directly through external DAF provider portals (Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, etc.)
DAF grants sent directly to your organization outside of GiveCampus
DAF gifts processed through other platforms or systems

Best Practices for DAF Tracking

To maximize visibility of DAF gifts:

Promote the DAFpay option on your GiveCampus forms and campaigns
Guide donors to use your GiveCampus giving pages rather than external DAF portals
Monitor both sources - check your DAF provider statements for additional gifts
Add DAF gifts received outside GiveCampus as offline gifts when appropriate for campaign totals

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