Dr. Dan Heist Recognized with the 2026 Emerging Scholar Award

Dr. Dan Heist, assistant professor at Brigham Young University, has been recognized with the 2026 Emerging Scholar Award. Selected by members of the AFP Foundation's Research Council, the award honors an individual who is emerging as a contributing scholar or scholar-practitioner to the discourse on philanthropy and fundraising. The purpose of the award is to recognize those who are pursuing research agendas congruent with the mission and interests of AFP Foundation and the AFP Research Council.

This year Dr. Heist was chosen for his highly productive research, publication record, and leadership of the Donor Advised Fund Research Collaborative (DAFRC). The DAFRC provides professional fundraisers with trustworthy research that directly informs how to best engage private donors who use DAFs for their philanthropy. Dr. Heist directly engages with practitioners to apply research and shape professional practice.

Over the past three years alone, he has delivered more than three dozen presentations and webinars at AFP ICON, local AFP chapters, and many other national and international organizations. A recent study, “Raising DAF Dollars: Best Practices from Experienced Fundraisers” (Heist et al. 2025) was funded by two awards (2022 and 2024) from the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy’s Wilson C. "Bill" Levis Fundraising Research Grants. This study combined interviews with 46 senior fundraisers nationwide to identify the relationship-building and communication practices most effective with DAF donors.

Findings from this study, published in the report Reinventing the Cycle: Adapting Relationship Fundraising for Donors Who Use DAFs (DAFRC, 2025), provide a revised donor management cycle for working with DAF donors. The report is now being used to develop a new AFP professional development curriculum on DAFs as well as other university fundraising courses.

See more of Dan's research in this recent Advancing Philanthropy article, Supercharge Your DAF Fundraising With the Annual DAF Report. (Available Exclusively to AFP Members)