We interviewed Shayla Titley, The Public Theater’s Director of Patron Programs & Services, to hear how she led a DAF strategy overhaul and opened an exciting new revenue channel across the organization with DAFpay.
Surge in new DAF giving
“There were people who had never given to us from a donor-advised fund before, who then gave a DAF through DAFpay because it was there and available for them”
PMC's record-breaking DAF raise
Significant Impact
PMC raised over $3.5M through nearly 5,000 DAFpay gifts in 2024, with digital DAFs now making up 39% of total DAF revenue.
Gift Analysis
The average DAFpay gift is $699, with a median of $250.
Critical Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
DAFs now contribute 15% to PMC's overall revenue.
Core to Online Fundraising
DAFpay accounts for 8% of total online giving—2.5 times more than Venmo.
Dates used in this case study for 2024 are January 1 - August 17
New Stewardship Capabilities Are Transformative for DAF Donor Experience
“I think the major thing that, for us, we feel the benefit is the stewardship. It's to be able to recognize and see pretty much in real time when someone has made a recommendation from their donor-advised fund to us, and for us to be able to reach back out to them”
“Finding” DAF Donors with Mailers
“So I said, "Guys, let's mention that they can give through a donor-advised fund onto this reply device. It's fully tax deductible. There's no harm. And, we did. The results were pretty significant. We received 91 gifts, and 25% of those gifts were donor-advised fund gifts.”
“The other significant part of that is that half of all of the donor-advised fund gifts that we receive were done through DAFpay. So, we gave folks the option to let us know through mail, but also sent them information to be able to go directly online and to do that, and that is what folks did as well.
Lost Gifts: Clearing up Legal Name Confusion
“We're doing business as The Public Theater. We are legally the New York Shakespeare Festival because that was our foundation. And, the fact that DAFpay is right on our webpage and our donation page means that they can just type in what they need to directly from there, and it works without needing to worry about what our EIN is.”
DAF Day: Building DAF Understanding for Staff Internally
“DAF Day really allowed us to dig in a little bit more specifically to say, ‘No, this is the difference between a donor-advised fund and these other giving channels that you may have seen, and this is why we are focusing on it here.’ So, that really did jumpstart something, and I think everyone is pretty much clear on the differences now.”
The Business Case for DAF Strategy, from a true DAF Champion
“As fundraisers … we want to make sure that we are meeting our goals and hitting the lines, but we also wanna make sure that we are adequately and exceptionally thanking and stewarding our donors. And, the fact that there would be months that could go by and I didn't know who had given that donor-advised fund gift, that's just— I know it wasn't our fault— but it still didn't feel right that we have that happening.
And so, having DAFpay really does eliminate a lot of that. And, I think the other part of it is just we want to make giving easy, and DAFpay allows someone who has a donor-advised fund to give easily to us.
And, that is a wonderful thing, and that's something I think we all, as fundraisers, aspire to. We want to make our donors' option to give as easy as possible and our ability to thank them as quickly as possible paramount.”
Without DAFpay
- Donors had to take several extra steps to submit a gift, such as searching for PMC by EIN, and obtaining the rider's number
- PMC staff received checks weeks later and lacked the information necessary to credit a rider or find contact details
With DAFpay
- Donors can submit DAF gifts instantaneously via a PMC donation form with just 3 clicks
- PMC Staff have key gift details, such as its tracking ID and the donor's email address
"DAF Day is the perfect opportunity to connect with our supporters who give through Donor Advised Funds — and the results speak for themselves. Our team is now more confident engaging with DAF donors, we saw a remarkable boost in fundraising and the donor experience has never been stronger. It’s a meaningful step forward in our work to end breast cancer."