Using a donor advised fund to reduce taxes

[canadian bacon]

Just started looking this and this seems to be a strong way to reduce taxes if:
You are still working
Are planning to retire early
Donate to charity

Check it out:
You get the charity deduction from your taxes in the year that the funds are transferred to the fund.   Afterward that funds can be distributed whenever you want over years or decades
Any growth of the fund is tax free (like a roth)
The fund never counts as an asset even though you control how it is distributed (like a retirement savings account)
The donor advised fund can be funded through current stock from your portfolio with NO CAPITAL GAINS on the funding!

So for instance:
I can donate x amount from my portfolio to the donor advised fund and get a 25% deduction for this amount to my current tax year.  I pay no capital gains on funding this account with my index funds that have increased in value over their original purchase price.
I can now replenish this amount to my portfolio and now my portfolio cost basis just went up free of charge

Things to remember: 
Be aware that you dont get a tax deduction for charitable giving beyond 50% of your adjusted gross income
Be aware of where you are in your tax bracket.   If in retirement I expect to dip into the 15% tax bracket for instance, while I am working, I would want to contribute in the 25% bracket only.

[Catbert]

All that plus you can be anonymous to the charities by just donating in your "foundations" name (e.g., W Family Trust).

[canadian bacon]

another item that I like.

This almost seems like a scam since it is so good.   (for anyone that wants to donate to a non-profit)

I initially saw this possibility when going through physician on fire's archive.   Does anyone else use one of these?  Is it as good as it sounds?

[koshtra]

I'm on the receiving end of it, as the guy who processes gifts for a nonprofit. MOST of our big individual donors give this way.

[Catbert]

another item that I like.

This almost seems like a scam since it is so good.   (for anyone that wants to donate to a non-profit)

I initially saw this possibility when going through physician on fire's archive.   Does anyone else use one of these?  Is it as good as it sounds?

Absolutely as easy as it sounds.  I've donated to very small (under 100K a year budgets) as well has large charities.  Tax part works as described.

[katsiki]

Is there any benefit for regular annual giving?  ie more like a pass through on a monthly or quarterly basis.

[daymare]

I work as a financial planner and many of our clients use donor advised funds.  You're able to gift highly appreciated investments - and get the charitable deduction (if you itemize) in the year you make the contribution to your DAF, and avoid needing to pay any capital gains tax, so the charities get the full amount eventually, rather than what's left after taxes.  The 'catch' is that you can't take the money out of the donor advised fund except by putting it into 501(c)(3) organizations.  So it's not a tax-saving measure in that it makes sense to do if you don't now in the future give to charities.  It's strategic because you can contribute several years' worth of charitable contributions in one year to your DAF, and time it so that it's in a high-income year when the deduction is most beneficial.

I think Fidelity's offering is the best ... really low cost, easy interface (it's basically online bill-pay for charities)

[kpd905]

Is there any benefit for regular annual giving?  ie more like a pass through on a monthly or quarterly basis.

If you don't have high enough deductions to itemize, you can load up your donations during one year to get the deduction, while still giving to the charity on whatever schedule you choose.

[Romag]

I established one (Vanguard Charitable) in my last year of work before FIRE. I used appreciated assets, so paid no capital gains taxes on that, and it helped me get a nice tax refund. I put my money in the fund into VTSAX. I've made about $4500 in donations in the last 12 months and have roughly the same amount in the fund as I started with due to market gains. Making contributions has been easy and the money is delivered quickly.

It's been great. I've been very pleased with how it has worked.