Schwab Charitable Fund

Schwab Charitable Fund

Schwab Charitable Fund, now operating publicly as DAFgiving360, was founded in 1999 by Charles R. Schwab, the founder of the Charles Schwab Corporation. His daughter Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz later served as Chair from 2012 to 2023, embedding a family-governance thread into a structure that is legally independent and publicly supported. The charity's mission centers on increasing charitable giving by offering a tax-effective vehicle for donors to contribute cash, securities, and complex assets including real estate, fine art, and cryptocurrency. DAFgiving360 functions as a large-scale donor-advised fund sponsor. Its model allows donors to contribute appreciated assets, receive an immediate tax deduction, invest the proceeds across a curated menu of investment pools, and recommend grants to qualified U.S. public charities over time. In calendar year 2025 alone, the organization granted $9.9 billion through 1.5 million individual grants, reaching more than 165,000 charities. The platform supports contributions from complex assets — donated real estate holdings include mixed-use properties across the United States — and can accept cryptocurrency donations, extending its utility for modern portfolios. By cumulative grantmaking volume, Schwab Charitable Fund has deployed over $50 billion since inception, making it one of the largest DAF sponsors in the country. The organization is led by President Julie Sunwoo, appointed in April 2024, and a board chaired by Adele Taylor, who also serves as Chief Administrative Officer at Charles Schwab. Related professional networks include board affiliations with Social Venture Partners International and the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund, where board member Bill Brownell serves as Board Chair, signaling overlapping governance with the broader impact-investing community. DAFgiving360's structural differentiator is its dual-reach architecture: it is a fundraising public charity that operates at the intersection of retail financial services and philanthropy. Unlike community foundations that focus on specific geographies or private-firm-affiliated DAF programs, DAFgiving360 was created within the orbit of a national brokerage and serves the advisor-sold wealth-management channel. This alignment with financial advisors — not just direct donors — gives it a distribution mechanism that most independent DAF sponsors lack, positioning it as a scalable philanthropic utility rather than a boutique mission-driven endowment.