We create new giving opportunities for non-profits by accessing (i) donor advised funds, and (ii) removing the complexity and risk of illiquid asset donations. Our work in donor advised funds includes discussion and awareness building sessions, assessments and advice services to charities who may be thinking of starting a DAF or who want to reinvent their existing DAF, and project management of DAF initiatives. Our two principals have almost 30 years of prior senior leadership experiences at Vanguard Charitable, one of the largest DAFs today. Ben Pierce as the founder/President and Brad Caswell as its COO, were in the middle of building an organization that hosts tens of thousands of donor advised accounts and processes a significant volume of donation and grant transactions every day. Acadia Squam Group offers an independent perspective of the DAF industry, helping organizations work more effectively with DAFs and where interest exists, build a better internal DAF offering for their donors. Additionally, we work to build awareness and tools for charities in the realm of illiquid asset donations. To generate new dollars in the coming years colleges, universities, community foundations, and all types of mission charities will require tapping into assets other than cash. Fund-raising in the future will demand an understanding and capability to handle inquiries and gifts-in-kind of the non-cash assets in a donor's portfolio. The alignment of these two fund-raising efforts in the Acadia Squam Group may seem odd, once beyond the facts, regulations, and tactics around DAFs and illiquid asset gifts, both require a deeper understanding of the donor. Their background, vocations and avocations, energies for certain causes, family dynamic for charitable conversations, estate plans, and more, all develop a picture of why they give and provide insight into how to partner with them for charity.
