If your financial goals include supporting charities and non-profit organizations, we offer these tips and reminders of year-end deadlines. Please contact us for help in fulfilling your charitable goals.
1. New provisions will reduce tax benefits for some tax payers starting in 2026.
Itemized charitable deductions will be limited next year. Consider accelerating gifts to 2025 to maximize the deduction.
Itemizers will be able to deduct total contributions that exceed 0.5% of adjusted gross income (AGI).
For individuals in the 37% tax bracket, the tax benefit of charitable contributions will be capped at 35% in 2026, not 37%.
2. Donate appreciated assets instead of cash.
Donating appreciated publicly traded securities you have held for more than a year creates two tax benefits:
The tax deduction is the market value of stock on the date of the gift.
You avoid paying capital gains tax on the gain.
3. Consider a donor-advised fund.
A donor-advised fund is a streamlined way to manage charitable donations.
Contributions to a donor-advised fund are generally eligible for an immediate tax deduction.
You may recommend grants to public charities at any time, not necessarily in the year of the contribution.
Assets in the account may be invested, which allows the opportunity to grow tax-free over time.
4. Bunch charitable contributions in one tax year.
As the standard deduction amount has increased, it takes a greater total of itemized deductions to exceed the standard deduction threshold.
Consider pulling forward contributions for multiple years into a single tax year. You would then itemize deductions in the current year and revert to the standard deduction in the next year.
5. Make charitable gifts from an IRA starting at age 701/2.
Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) from your IRA are allowed starting at age 70½. QCDs are often better than a tax deduction because you avoid receiving distributions that would be taxable as ordinary income.
Earned income is never taxed because it goes directly to charity.
Each taxpayer can give up to $108,000 from their IRA directly to charity in 2025.
QCDs count toward your required minimum distribution.
6. Be aware of gifting deadlines at certain custodians.
Mutual fund transfers – December 1, 2025
Stock transfers – December 15, 2025
Providing instructions earlier in the giving season will help ensure your giving intentions are supported in a timely manner.