Donor-advised funds: Where charity goes to wait - Ideas - The Boston Globe

Donor-advised funds: Where charity goes to wait - Ideas - The Boston Globe: With much of America still suffering from the effects of the Great Recession, the sheer amount of money piling up in tax-exempt investment accounts has begun to rankle some experts on charity. Though it is impossible to draw a direct line that shows these accounts are diverting money from working charities, critics point out that while Americans have been giving away the same percentage of their disposable income for decades, these funds have been growing at a rapid clip. According to a report by the National Philanthropic Trust, one of the biggest donor-advised fund programs in the country, donor-advised funds took in a total of $13.7 billion in contributions last year—almost 40 percent more than in 2007—but paid out only $8.6 billion in grants, a difference of just over $5 billion.