Donor-Advised Funds: Law and Policy summarizes the extensive body of law and explores the many policy issues surrounding the nation’s hottest charitable giving vehicle and strategy: the donor-advised fund. The book provides a detailed explanation of the workings of these funds, the support and opposition they are generating (the latter, so far, predominating), and the new spurt in attempts by the federal government to regulate them.

The history of donor-advised funds is recounted, including the role of community foundations, the emergence of private foundations, the impact of the 1969 tax reform legislation, and the legislation in 2006 that created the statutory basis for these funds. The book includes analyses of developments in the evolution of donor-advised funds, including studies, significant publications, and litigation. A complete statistical analysis of the donor-advised fund universe is provided.

About the Author

Bruce R. Hopkins practices with the Bruce R. Hopkins Law Firm, LLC, in Kansas City, Missouri. His practice focuses on the representation of tax-exempt organizations. He is the Professor from Practice at the University of Kansas School of Law. He is author of several books, including The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, Twelfth Edition; The Tax Law of Charitable Giving, Fifth Edition; A Nonprofit Lawyer (memoir);The Tax Law of Private Foundations, Fifth Edition; Starting and Managing a Nonprofit Organization: A Legal Guide, Seventh Edition; Beware the Commerciality Doctrine and Other Nonprofit Law Poetry; Nonprofit Law Poetry: The Second Book; and Bruce R. Hopkins’ Nonprofit Law Dictionary. He writes a monthly newsletter, “Bruce R. Hopkins’ Nonprofit Counsel.” He received the Nonprofit Lawyer Award (2007) from the American Bar Association. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Bruce received J.D. and LL.M (taxation) degrees from the George Washington University Law School, and received an S.J.D. degree from the Kansas University Law School. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (charity law) 2007-2020.