Bates College unlocks first-time DAF donors on GiveCampus
Bates, a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine, was one of the first GiveCampus Partners to enable DAFpay, a fast, user-friendly way for donors to give directly from their Donor Advised Fund (DAF). Soon after launch, donors quickly embraced the new option.
Bates has been a GiveCampus partner since 2016
They recently raised $694K on their annual Giving Day and achieved 158% of their donor goal. This appeal marked the first time the school was able to accept grants from donor advised funds online.
Solutions provided:
Bates enabled DAFpay to:
Offer DAF holders a convenient way to give
An easy 3-click checkout experience allows donors to initiate a DAF grant in under 15 seconds.
Make processing DAF gifts easier on the backend
The DAFpay integration captures full donor data, eliminating manual gift processing for staff.
Find, engage, and steward new DAF donors
More than two thirds of DAF donors to the Friends of Bates Athletics (FBA) Giving Day were first-time DAF donors to Bates.
DAF donors delivered big wins on Giving Day
The annual FBA Giving Challenge highlighted alumni support for Bates athletics—and DAF donors rose to the occasion. By making DAF giving as seamless as a credit card payment, Bates uncovered that many existing supporters held donor advised funds. Even better, both first-time and returning donors gave more through DAFpay—clear proof that meeting donors where they are drives results.
made their first-ever DAF gift to Bates
This includes two parents who were first-time donors to Bates.
larger than non-DAF gifts
On average, DAF gifts were significantly larger—with an average of $984 and a median of $675.
increase in the average DAF gift amount
Supporters who had given through other methods in the past were more generous when they gave via DAFpay.