The Charitable Advisor Platform:
a turnkey Donor Advised Fund Solution

What is it?

• CAP (Charitable Advisor Platform) is an outsourced solution for donor-directed philanthropy which combines:
  • A dedicated service bureau to perform back-office tasks.
  • A choice of investment solutions.
  • A web-based front office for all participants.
• CAP is designed for community, religious, and educational foundations that want a quick-to-market and easy-to-maintain outsourced program for donor-directed philanthropy, whether based on donor-advised funds or direct contributions to component funds or programs.

The ChesterCAP Service Bureau (CSB)

• Participating NPOs outsource all program administration to the ChesterCAP Service Bureau except grant approval, which is easily given online.
• The service bureau performs all essential back-office tasks:
  • Record keeping for gifts, security sales, grants, payments, investments, and fees.
  • Participant notifications and reporting.
  • Gift acknowledgement and annual donor IRS summary.
  • Grant processing and payments.
  • Fund statements and portal maintenance.
• NPO staff is freed to concentrate on core competencies: donor relations and program expertise.

The CAP Financial Infrastructure

• CAP Primary Custodian
  • Cost effective.
  • Insures seamless, accurate, and timely investment reporting without expensive data aggregation or unitization.
  • Individual “trust-form” accounts yield fairness and transparency for the donor (Customized commingled endowment model available).
• Independent Investment Management
  • Best of breed investments rather than any proprietary products.
  • Can begin with index funds for efficiency and simplicity.

The Charitable Advisor Web Portal

• The CAP-hosted, NPO-branded web portal is a philanthropic front-office for all program participants. Form-based work flow management makes transaction processing easy.
• Advancement staff uses the portal to set up new donor advised funds.
• Donors…
  • Make earmarked gifts via the portal.
  • Donor-advisors view their fund balance.
  • Suggest grant disbursements.
  • Recommend investment changes.
  • Discover funding opportunities in the Charitable Catalog, a searchable, illustrated database of vetted funding opportunities.
• Charitable Catalog items are maintained by the fund seekers themselves, insuring accuracy and freshness, with the NPO staff serving as the gatekeeper and optionally spotlighting preferred funding needs.
• Donor relations staff automates charitable guidance by selecting preferred funding needs that are spotlighted for donors based on philanthropic interests and giving history.
• Fund Seekers (internal programs or external organizations)…
  • Promote their work in the Charitable Catalog to attract donors and donor-advisors.
  • Submit online applications for discretionary grants.
  • Submit progress reports describing program accomplishments.
• Students submit online applications to scholarship programs.
• Distribution Committees perform grant or scholarship application reviews online, and submit form-based evaluations.
• Staff administrators respond to automatic notifications to approve grant recommendations and investment changes.

  If you would like to learn more, click to email  Eric Swerdlin at ChesterCAP.