Zelle® and Bank of America have announced a first-of-its-kind application of Zelle to enable charitable disbursements from Donor Advised Funds (DAFs). The new capability allows nonprofits to receive charitable grant funding in near real time, replacing the traditional multi-week, paper-based process with fast and reliable digital payments using the Zelle network. This new capability is part of Zelle® Forward, the network’s innovation agenda. Zelle is working with financial institutions to explore ways to expand into new, practical use cases. Americans now send more than $1.2 trillion annually using Zelle and increasingly rely on it for everyday needs like rent and childcare. The new DAF proof of concept is being introduced through Bank of America’s Charitable Gift Fund, the bank’s donor advised fund, allowing donors to send charitable grants to a select group of nonprofit organizations via Zelle.1 The speed and security of this delivery could help transform how charitable dollars flow from routine, planned donations to urgent situations like natural disasters and community‑level crises, helping nonprofits access resources more quickly when they are needed most. While the initial proof of concept is with Bank of America’s Charitable Gift Fund, the goal is to support broader use by financial institutions that offer Zelle and have donor advised fund programs.
“Zelle is a staple of the American economy and Americans are ready for it to do more,” Denise Leonhard, general manager of Zelle commented “Through Zelle® Forward, we are advancing practical new applications of the Zelle network, and this charitable grant delivery capability represents the first of many ways Zelle will continue to innovate and grow. By bringing the speed and reliability of Zelle to charitable grant delivery, we are helping funds reach nonprofits faster so organizations can stay focused on their missions.”
Bank of America’s Charitable Gift Fund provides clients with an organized, flexible, and tax-efficient way to support the causes they care about. Donors can contribute a variety of assets, invest for potential long-term impact, and involve family members. In 2025 alone, the Charitable Gift Fund distributed more than 100,000 grants, totaling over $1.3 billion to nonprofits.
“For nonprofits, deploying their resources quickly and effectively matters – whether responding to community needs or scaling vital services,” Donald Greene, Donor-advised Fund Executive, Bank of America Private Bank commented “By partnering with Zelle to develop this innovation, we’re giving both donors and nonprofits a more modern and responsive way to take in and make use of charitable contributions. This advancement strengthens our clients’ ability to support the causes they care about and accelerates the impact of nonprofits.”
Throughout 2026, Zelle will continue to explore additional innovations to help bring new capabilities to Zelle and deliver additional value across the American economy. Each program considers the evolving roadmap of the Zelle platform — ensuring innovation remains continuous, responsible, and aligned with real-world consumer needs.