Church. What difference does it really make to just make each donation in kind directly instead of setting up the Donor Advised Fund? It seems to me you are either pre-paying tithing for the current month/year and if bunching donations, perhaps the following year, or vice versa, you are paying for a previous year in the following year. Does it really matter if this is done through a DAF? I guess the DAF allows you to time the payments to the Church to corresond with your earned income, but if that doesn't matter to you, does it servie any financial benefit? Also, is there any cost or fees associated with using a DAF--it seems to me I've heard of that as being a pitfall, but maybe not?