Kids Donor-Advised Fund · The AV Foundation
kDAF is a real donor-advised fund that a parent opens and a kid helps run. Kids choose the causes, recommend the grants, and see what happened next. You stay in the room the whole time.
kids whose parents talk to them about giving are
more likely to give themselves, and role-modeling + conversation together is the strongest predictor*
*Ottoni-Wilhelm, Estell & Perdue, “Role-modeling and conversations about giving,” Journal of Adolescence (2014); Women Give 2013, IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
Most families talk about generosity once a year, usually around the holidays. The kid nods. Nothing changes, because nothing about the conversation asked them to act.
We think economic agency is formed early, in small repeated decisions. That's the idea behind everything Access Ventures does, and kDAF is that idea at its smallest scale. A kid who has made ten real giving decisions by age twelve understands something about agency that no explanation teaches.
The operative word is talked. kDAF is built so the conversation has to happen, because a kid with a real account and a real decision to make is going to ask questions.
A parent opens the account. You're the custodian; your kid gets their own online access.
Parents oversee the account and kids get their own login. Giving becomes something that happens at home, around the table, not a lecture.
Your kids research charities they care about and you decide together. The approval is the conversation.
Kids recommend a grant with real dollars and their name on the recommendation. Causes range from the animal shelter two towns over to a school in another country. What they control, and what you control, is the lesson.
You see what the gift did. Track each grant and talk about the result.
Families follow what each grant did and talk it through, with impact tracking a kid can read. Coming soon: giving challenges, a shareable page your kid can send to friends and family for a cause they've picked.
At 18, the account transfers to your child as a full AV Foundation DAF holder.
No fee to open or maintain, no minimum balance until 18, so it can start small and stay open. At 18 it's theirs, with years of practice already in it.
You're the custodian. Your kid gets their own online access.
They research charities they care about and recommend a grant.
Every recommendation comes to you. The approval is the conversation.
Track each grant and talk about the result.
The account transfers to your child as a full AV Foundation DAF holder.
The account is real. The decision is theirs. The final word is yours.
It's more than a fund. It's a habit your family builds together.
There's no fee to open or maintain a kDAF, and no minimum balance until your child turns 18, and they take over the DAF. Fee structure won't begin until they turn 25. Start with whatever amount makes sense for your family. The barrier to entry is a conversation, not a deposit.
A kDAF works alongside the fund you already hold. Your kids get their own account and their own causes; you keep oversight of both. It's also a natural place to think about what your family's giving looks like in the next generation, not just this year's grants. If succession has crossed your mind, we're glad to walk through how a kDAF fits.
Add a kDAF to your accountYou do, until your child turns 18. Your kid recommends; you approve.
The account transfers to your child, who signs the AV Foundation's standard donor-advised fund agreement and takes full control.
Yes. Our team will help you set up both.
Any qualified charitable organization, the same as any AV Foundation donor-advised fund.
A short agreement. It takes a few minutes.
Email Meghan and our team will take it from there, including the short agreement and setting up your account. Questions first are welcome.
