Benefunder Launches Charitable Innovation Fund to Connect

Benefunder Launches Charitable Innovation Fund to Connect Donors
With Top Researchers
New High-Impact Philanthropic Product Gives Savvy Advisors an ‘Edge’
The rising demand for high impact philanthropy is prompting many wealth
management firms to look for new and innovative ways to engage donors.
Leading this trend is San Diego-based Benefunder, an organization that works
with wealth management firms to connect donors with top researchers across
the country. Benefunder has launched its one-of-a-kind Charitable Innovation
Fund , which is a purpose-driven, hosted Donor Advised Fund or ‘DAF.’ This
means that advisors can maintain and grow assets under management, while
introducing a new value added service that allows their clients to have greater
impact in their giving.
“Through Benefunder, donors become engaged philanthropists who are making
personalized decisions in their charitable giving,” said Christian Braemer,
Cofounder and CEO of Benefunder. “By directly funding researchers, donors
are assured maximum impact for every dollar they give, instead of just writing a
blank check to a charity and never knowing where that money is actually
going.”
Benefunder’s Charitable Innovation Fund enables philanthropists to create and
name a tax deductible fund, establish and implement a planned giving strategy,
build a personalized portfolio of top researchers according to their profile, and
track progress and milestones along the way. Through this unique fund,
Benefunder facilitates a significantly lower overhead structure, greater access,
and unparalleled transparency. Click here for a sample giving fund proposal.
The Benefunder DAF works for advisors to target clients with major wealth
events as a means of engaging the next generation of wealth, and to attract new
clients that are charitably inclined. The fund is a viable solution as a standalone
charitable vehicle, as a cost effective giving arm for a private foundation, and is
even ideal for companies looking to further their social responsibility interests
in an effective way.
According to a U.S. Trust study, 98 percent of high net worth clients give, yet
only 40 percent are happy with their giving. Consider this: In 2013, $93 billion
in charitable donations left the top 10 wealth management firms, providing
advisors an untapped opportunity to retain and grow new assets. In the
meantime, DAF account contributions in 2013 reached an all-time high, totaling
$17.28 billion. Meanwhile, research funding in the United States has decreased
by as much as 20% over the past decade, during which time other countries like
South Korea and China have significantly increased funding, up to 90 %,
according to innovationdeficit.org/.
Benefunder’s mission is to reduce the innovation deficit, which is centered
around funding research and moving it to the market. The U.S. is an innovation
driven economy; in fact, since WWII, academic research has accounted for
roughly half of all new wealth creation. Inventions like internet protocol, MRI,
countless drugs, touchscreens, genome mapping, to name a few, were born in
this nation’s Ivory Towers. Philanthropists have a powerful opportunity to fund
what matters to them while helping to push novel innovations like these to the
masses.
“Now is the time for goals-driven philanthropy to incorporate diversification,
asset allocation, and planned giving, creating a new and much needed dynamic
in this space.” Braemer said. “Research needs to be in everyone’s funding
portfolio because it affects every possible philanthropic cause. Our
philanthropic platform enables new ways for advisors to engage donors by
allowing them to effect positive, social change, while keeping assets under their
management.”
About Benefunder:
Benefunder is a unique hybrid organization -- part foundation and part tech
startup -- that has created a new funding channel for research and innovation
while providing philanthropists with a smarter and more meaningful way to
give. Through our Charitable Innovation Fund, we connect donors with the
nation’s top researchers across all fields of study, including life sciences, new
technologies, the environment and the arts and humanities. Benefunder has the
largest active researcher portal in the United States, with more than 600 top
researchers who are working on breakthrough treatments and solutions that will
greatly impact and benefit society. More information at www.benefunder.org.
Watch the Benefunder video here.