Give smarter, not just more.

First, find out whether you itemize

Most of the tax side of giving depends on one question: do you take the standard deduction, or do you itemize? If you take the standard deduction, a gift of cash can still count for something from 2026. If you itemize, a small slice of your giving no longer counts. Some people group two or more years of giving into one year so that they itemize that year and take the standard deduction in the others. Planners call this bunching. A donor-advised fund (below) is a common way to do it, because you can put the money in at once and recommend grants later.

Standard deduction, 2026

Married filing jointly $32,200; single or married filing separately $16,100; head of household $24,150.

Tax year 2026 · IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (IR-2025-103) (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“For tax year 2026, the standard deduction increases to $32,200 for married couples filing jointly. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction rises to $16,100 for tax year 2026, and for heads of households, the standard deduction will be $24,150.”

If you don’t itemize, from 2026

You may deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to eligible charities, or $2,000 if married filing jointly. Gifts to donor-advised funds and supporting organizations don’t count.

Tax year 2026 · Working Families Tax Cuts: provisions of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“Beginning with tax year 2026, individuals who do not itemize may deduct up to $1,000 of cash contributions made to eligible charitable organizations ($2,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly). Certain contributions - including donations to donor-advised funds and supporting organizations - do not qualify.”

Non-cash gifts and the new deduction

The non-itemizer deduction is for cash only.

Tax year 2026 · Working Families Tax Cuts: provisions of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“Noncash contributions, such as clothing, stock, or other property, do not qualify.”

If you itemize, from 2026

Only the part of your giving above 0.5% of your adjusted gross income can be deducted.

Tax year 2026 · Publication 505 (2026), Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“can only deduct charitable contributions that are more than 0.5% of your adjusted gross income. Any amount that falls under the 0.5% floor can’t be deducted in 2026.”

Appreciated stock: give the shares, not the cash

If you own shares or fund units that have risen in value and you have held them for more than a year, you can usually give the shares themselves. The charity, or a donor-advised fund, sells them. Your broker can move them; the charity tells you which account to send them to. If shares have fallen in value, it usually works the other way round: the deduction is limited to what they are worth now, so people often sell them and give the cash.

Held more than a year

Shares held more than a year count as capital gain property, and the deduction generally uses their market value on the day you give.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“When figuring your deduction for a contribution of capital gain property, you can generally use the FMV of the property.”

What counts

Capital gain property includes capital assets held more than one year, such as stocks and bonds.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“Capital gain property includes capital assets held more than 1 year.”

Limits

Overall, deductions generally can’t exceed 60% of adjusted gross income, and lower limits (20%, 30% or 50%) apply in some cases, including gifts of capital gain property.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“can’t be more than 60% of your AGI, but in some cases 20%, 30%, or 50% limits may apply.”

Shares that have fallen

If what you give is worth less than you paid, the deduction is limited to what it is worth now.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“If you contribute property with an FMV that is less than your basis in it, your deduction is limited to its FMV.”

Paperwork

If your non-cash gifts for the year total more than $500, you file Form 8283 with your return.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“If your total deduction for all noncash contributions for the year is over $500, you must complete Form 8283 and attach it to your Form 1040.”

Donor-advised funds: decide now, choose later

A donor-advised fund is an account at a charity that holds your gift and later makes grants to the charities you recommend. It suits people who want to give a large amount in one year, or give shares, and take time to choose. Two cautions. The money belongs to the sponsoring charity once you give it, so it can only go to charity. And it helps no one until you recommend a grant, so set yourself a date. A fund will ask for the charity’s legal name and EIN; the profile of each US charity we list gives both.

What it is

A fund or account run by a 501(c)(3) “sponsoring organization”; once you give, it has legal control, and you keep advisory privileges.

General rule · Donor-advised funds (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“Generally, a donor advised fund is a separately identified fund or account that is maintained and operated by a section 501(c)(3) organization, which is called a sponsoring organization .”

Keep the letter

You need a written acknowledgment from the sponsor that it has exclusive legal control of what you gave.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“You don’t have a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from that sponsoring organization that it has exclusive legal control over the assets contributed.”

Not for the new non-itemizer deduction

Gifts to donor-advised funds don’t count toward the new deduction for people who don’t itemize.

Tax year 2026 · Working Families Tax Cuts: provisions of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“Certain contributions - including donations to donor-advised funds and supporting organizations - do not qualify.”

From an IRA at 70½ or older: the qualified charitable distribution

If you are 70½ or older and have a traditional IRA, you can ask the IRA’s trustee to pay a charity directly. That payment, a qualified charitable distribution, is generally left out of your taxable income, and it can count toward the distribution you are required to take. Because it is left out of income, you don’t also deduct it. The money must go straight from the IRA to the charity: not to you first, not to a donor-advised fund.

Who and how

Paid directly by the IRA trustee (not an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA) when you are at least 70½.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is a distribution made directly by the trustee of your individual retirement arrangement (IRA), other than an ongoing SEP or SIMPLE IRA, to certain qualified organizations. You must have been at least age 70½ when the distribution was made.”

Limit, 2025

Up to $108,000 a person for 2025; on a joint return your spouse can also exclude up to $108,000.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 590-B (2025), Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“If you file a joint return, your spouse can also have a QCD and exclude up to $108,000.”

Limit, 2026

Rises to $111,000 a person for 2026.

Tax year 2026 · Notice 2025-67: 2026 amounts relating to retirement plans and IRAs (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“The aggregate amount of qualified charitable distributions that are not includible in gross income under section 408(d)(8)(A) is increased from $108,000 to $111,000.”

Counts toward your required distribution

A QCD counts toward your required minimum distribution.

General rule · Seniors can reduce their tax burden by donating to charity through their IRA (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“A QCD will count toward a required minimum distribution”

No double benefit

If the QCD is left out of income, you can’t also deduct it.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“if the QCD is nontaxable, you can’t claim it as a charitable contribution deduction.”

Not to a donor-advised fund

The law excludes supporting organizations and donor-advised funds as QCD recipients.

Current law · 26 U.S. Code § 408(d)(8), qualified charitable distributions (statute text) (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“(other than any organization described in section 509(a)(3) or any fund or account described in section 4966(d)(2))”

Crypto

The IRS treats a gift of cryptocurrency to a qualifying charity much like a gift of shares: you don’t sell it, so you don’t recognize a gain, and how long you held it decides the deduction. Fewer charities accept crypto directly, so ask first; some donor-advised funds take it and grant cash onward.

No gain on the gift

Donating virtual currency to a qualifying charity doesn’t create income, gain or loss for you.

General rule · Frequently asked questions on virtual currency transactions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“If you donate virtual currency to a charitable organization described in Internal Revenue Code Section 170(c), you will not recognize income, gain, or loss from the donation.”

Held more than a year

The deduction is generally its market value if you held it more than a year; otherwise the lesser of what you paid and its value.

General rule · Frequently asked questions on virtual currency transactions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“Your charitable contribution deduction is generally equal to the fair market value of the virtual currency at the time of the donation if you have held the virtual currency for more than one year.”

Gifts in your will

You can leave money to a charity in your will, or name it as a beneficiary of a retirement account or insurance policy. Use the charity’s full legal name and, for a US charity, its EIN; both are on its profile here. A lawyer drafts the wording. If your estate is large enough for estate tax, what passes to qualified charities is deducted.

Estate tax

Property that passes to qualified charities is among the deductions when the taxable estate is worked out.

General rule · Estate tax (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“These deductions may include mortgages and other debts, estate administration expenses, property that passes to surviving spouses and qualified charities.”

Ask your employer to match

Many employers match their staff’s gifts, and a match is the one move on this page that can increase what the charity receives without costing you more. Ask HR or look in your benefits site before you give: each program sets its own rules, the charities it accepts and its deadline, often early in the next year. This is your employer’s rule, not a tax rule, so there is no IRS figure to quote.

Before December 31

A gift counts in the year you make it. Keep the paperwork. And check the charity itself: each profile here says whether it appears in the IRS’s public list of tax-exempt charities, and when we checked. Some charities we list are registered outside the United States, and US tax rules may not apply to a gift made to them directly.

The year you give

You deduct a gift in the year you actually make it.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“You can deduct your contributions only in the year you actually make them in cash or other property”

Checks

A mailed check counts on the date you mail it.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“A check you mail to a charity is considered delivered on the date you mail it.”

Receipts

For any single gift of $250 or more you need a written acknowledgment from the charity.

Tax year 2025 · Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions (opens in a new tab) · read October 25, 2026

The exact wording

“You can claim a deduction for a contribution of $250 or more only if you have a contemporaneous written acknowledgment of your contribution from the qualified organization, or certain payroll deduction records.”