"People want to simplify their philanthropy so they can focus their energies on what is most important to them, which is making grants to charitable causes that are near and dear to their heart," says Hastings.

Here's where the "advised" part comes in: Your irrevocable donation is the charity's to manage, within IRS guidelines of course, but you get to advise on how the money is distributed.

You can put your family name on your donor-advised fund, but one of the advantages of a DAF over a private foundation is that you may remain anonymous if you choose. Due to reporting requirements, a private foundation's assets, grants and board of directors are a matter of public record; you can view this information online at www.guidestar.org. DAFs have no such requirement.

DAFs not only solve a lot of paperwork and tax deductibility issues, but help you determine the appropriate recipient for your particular donation. "You can't donate appreciated stock to your local little league," says Hastings. "They're not going to be set up in any way to accept that kind of gift."

One-third of all DAFs are offered by financial services companies such as Fidelity and Vanguard; the others by philanthropic organizations such as NPT, community foundations and public charities themselves. One of the attractions is that these DAF providers typically have research departments that can drill down to some very specific charities for donors who have specific goals for their giving.

"After Katrina or 9/11, there is an immediate flood of donors giving money to the Red Cross, but after that, many donors want to help with the long-term effects," says Hastings. "We have our finger on the institutions on the ground. We serve as our donors' chief philanthropic officers."

Although some DAFs end with the death of the donor, many allow you to name a successor to take over the advising on your fund after you're gone.

DMIs: investment control
Although most donors are more interested in where their money goes than how their money grows, a small but growing number also want some say in how the money they donate is invested. For these financially savvy donors, a donor-managed investment, or DMI, fund may be the answer.

Winklevoss Consultants, which introduced the DMI product in November 2004, says donor-managed investing operates much like donor-assisted funds, except that the recipient charity agrees to let the donor call the investment shots for, typically, up to 10 years following the gift.

Former Wharton professor Howard Winklevoss calls the DMI the 401(k) of charitable giving. His company helps charities make DMIs available to prospective donors. Although the product is in its infancy, six national charities have signed on and a dozen more are working through the documentation process to offer them.

"It's a meteoric rise within a rather staid industry," says Mark Rakov, senior managing director for philanthropic services at Winklevoss.

Rakov says DMIs are a natural for colleges and universities, hospitals and religious organizations that already have -- and want to encourage -- direct relationships with their donors. New York's Skidmore College is one of the first to offer DMIs.