The Renaissance Charitable Foundation (RCF) is philanthropic organization that creates and operates donor-advised fund (DAF) programs to enable individual donors, financial services organizations, and philanthropic organizations to recognize immediate tax benefits as they distribute funds to their chosen charities under the donor-advised fund name. It was managing over $4 billion in donated assets as of September 2025. ¹

Background

The Renaissance Charitable Foundation was established in 2000 as a public charity that operates donor-advised fund programs for individual donors, financial services organizations and financial advisors, and philanthropic organizations. A donor-advised fund allows the donor to take charitable tax deductions immediately, avoid paying capital gains taxes, and make charitable donations over time. ¹ RCF manages over $4 billion in donated assets as of September 2025. ¹

Renaissance Charitable uses Ren (Renaissance Administration) as its administrative partner for accounting, administration, and charity assessments and uses its software platform for donors to access their accounts. ² Ren is an independent organization that was previously RenPSG (Renaissance Philanthropic Solutions Group) and a part of the Renaissance Charitable group. ³

Funding

The Renaissance Charitable Foundation was managing over $4 billion in assets as of September 2025. It reported total revenues of $1,459,759,410 with contributions and grants making up over 92 percent of revenues on its 2023 tax return. Its total expenses were $592,804,586 with grant payouts making up 96 percent of expenses. ⁴

In 2024, RCF was managing 26,903 donor-advised funds accounts and awarded $820 million in grants to almost 52,000 charities. ⁵

Donors to RCF include the KPMG Foundation U.S., the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the North Texas Community Foundation, the Denver Foundation, the San Diego Foundation, the Christian Community Foundation, the Columbus Foundation, the St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation, the Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund, the Servant Foundation, the Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, Chicago Community Trust, the Jewish Communal Fund, the National Philanthropic Trust, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, and the Charities Aid Foundation of America, most of which are other donor-advised funds. ⁶

Grantmaking

Some of the largest grants disbursed by Renaissance Charitable Foundation in 2024 were made to religious organizations, educational institutions, youth development organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, health related organizations, humanitarian aid groups such as the Catholic Relief Services, and environmental groups including the Environmental Defense Fund, the Green Science Policy Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Nature Conservancy. ⁷

Large grants were also awarded to the right-of-center Alliance Defending Freedom; to the left-of-center Alliance for Youth Organizing, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, ACLU, Amnesty International USA, the Anti-Defamation League, the Equal Justice Initiative, and the Southern Poverty Law Center; and to other donor-advised fund providers such as the American Endowment Foundation, the National Philanthropic Trust, and Donor Advised Charitable Giving. ⁷

Leadership

Gregory Baker was president and board chair of Renaissance Charitable Foundation as of 2025. He had been with RCF since 2002. Before becoming president and board chair, he was executive vice president of legal services at RenPSG, which has been renamed Ren. He earned a law degree in philanthropy, taxation, and estate planning from Indiana University and has worked in financial advisor positions throughout his career, including the Merrill Lynch Trust Company and the Merrill Lynch Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Management. ^{8  9  10}

Remaining board directors as of 2025 included RCF employee Andy Barton, first vice president and manager of the Nonprofit Banking Division at the National Bank of Indianapolis Jill Robisch, attorney Daniel O’Connell, and certified public accountant Steve Ko. ¹⁰

1. Renaissance Charitable homepage. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://www.renaissancecharitable.org/
2. “About.” Renaissance Charitable. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://www.renaissancecharitable.org/about
3. “Ren.” Crunchbase. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/renpsg
4. Renaissance Charitable Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part I). 2023.
5. “2024: By the Numbers.” Renaissance Charitable. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fd90f4c436e122176353229/t/687963ef18c1f7352ebd4228/1752785904251/RCF_Annual_Stats_2024%2BFINAL.pdf
6. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer search. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?form%5B%5D=IRS990ScheduleI&page=4&q=35-2129262&sort=best&submit=Apply&year%5B%5D=2023&year%5B%5D=2022&year%5B%5D=2024
7. Renaissance Charitable Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part VII). 2023.
8. “Gregary Baker, JC, ChFC, CFP, CAP.” Advisors in Philanthropy. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://www.advisorsinphilanthropy.org/page/Baker19
9. LinkedIn – Gregory Baker. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-baker-55a56a7/
10. “About Us.” Renaissance Charitable. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://www.renaissancecharitable.org/about