The asks start to really ramp up in November. Your alma mater. The food bank. A friend running a marathon for a cause. The school auction. By the last two weeks of December, the emails are stacking up in your inbox like cars on LBJ or the DNT during rush hour.
Some of those gifts you planned for. Some you make on the spot, because the story got to you or because it’s December 30 and it feels like the right thing to do. The giving comes from the heart.
What it usually doesn’t come from is strategy.
That’s not a criticism. The causes are yours, and so are the reasons. What can change is the setup. With a little planning, more of what you give can reach the places you care about, and less of it goes to the IRS. Not by giving more. By giving differently.
That’s worth fixing in October, while you still have options. (Does this sound familiar? We have been talking all year about making sure you act while the choices are yours to make. This is one more example!)
What Changed in 2026
The 2025 tax law (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) made two changes worth knowing.
The standard deduction went up. For 2026, it’s $32,200 for married couples filing jointly and $16,100 for single filers. If your charitable gifts plus your other itemized deductions (mortgage interest, state and local taxes) don’t add up to more than that, you take the standard deduction, and your giving doesn’t lower your taxes.
People who don’t itemize now get a small charitable deduction. Starting in 2026, you can deduct up to $1,000 in cash gifts ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly) even if you take the standard deduction. Two catches: it’s for cash given directly to a charity, and gifts to a donor advised fund don’t count.
It’s a welcome change. It just doesn’t do much for someone giving $10,000 or $20,000 a year. That’s where the strategies below come in.
Gift Bunching: Same Generosity, Better Timing
Here’s the math problem most givers don’t know they have.
Say you and your spouse give $15,000 a year. With your other deductions, you never quite clear the $32,200 standard deduction. So year after year, your giving produces no tax benefit.
Now say you give three years’ worth, $45,000, in one year, and nothing the next two. In the giving year, you itemize, and your deduction counts. In the other two years, you take the standard deduction. Same $45,000 to the same causes. A noticeably different tax picture.
The obvious objection: “My charities count on me every year.” Fair. That’s where a donor advised fund comes in.
The Donor Advised Fund: Give Now, Decide Later
A donor advised fund (DAF) is basically a charitable investment account you control. You put money in, take the deduction that year, let it grow tax-free, and send grants to charities whenever you’re ready. Most major brokerage firms and many community foundations offer them, and they’re usually inexpensive to open.
So you can bunch three years of giving into the DAF in one year, then keep sending your charities the same amount every year. Your charities see the same steady support. The deduction just lands in a better year.
The piece that surprises most clients: you don’t have to give cash. If you own stock you’ve held for more than a year that has grown a lot, giving cash usually means selling first, paying capital gains tax, and donating what’s left. The IRS takes its cut before the charity sees a dollar.
Give the shares directly to the DAF instead. You generally avoid the capital gains tax, and your deduction is based on the full market value. The charity gets the whole thing, not the after-tax version.
QCDs: The Move Many People Over 70½ Haven’t Heard Of
If you’re 70½ or older and have an IRA, a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is worth understanding.
A QCD sends money directly from your IRA to a charity, and it isn’t counted as taxable income. Once required minimum distributions (RMDs) start at 73, a QCD also counts toward your RMD.
If you’re taking an RMD and writing checks to charity separately, you may be paying income tax on money you were going to give away anyway. For 2026, you can give up to $111,000 this way.
Two details matter. The money has to go directly from your IRA custodian to the charity; if it lands in your account first, it doesn’t qualify. And a QCD can’t go to a donor advised fund. A five-minute call to your custodian in October beats a scramble in December.
Private Foundations: When the Question Is Bigger Than Taxes
Most of this article is for people who give regularly and want to give smarter. But there’s another group of people that are facing big questions around giving.
Maybe you’ve recently come into significant wealth: an inheritance, a business sale, decades of saving that added up. And underneath the logistics, there’s a question you haven’t put into words yet.
What is this money supposed to do? And what does it say about our family?
That isn’t a tax question. It’s a legacy question. And a lot of families are about to face it. Cerulli Associates estimates that $124 trillion will change hands through 2048, including about $18 trillion to charity.
For some families, a private foundation is the right structure. It’s a legal entity your family creates and names. You control the investments and decide who receives grants. Family members can serve on the board and stay involved in the decisions for generations.
The obligations are real. A foundation files an annual return (Form 990-PF), must give away at least 5% of its assets each year, and pays tax on its investment income. It’s a governance structure. For some families, that’s exactly the point: a way to bring the next generation into deciding where the money goes.
For most families, a DAF gets you most of the way there with far less work. But if the foundation question is on your mind, we’ll help you find the right resources and walk through it with you.
How the Tools Compare
| Cash Gifts | Donor Advised Fund | QCD From an IRA | Private Foundation | |
| Good fit for | Occasional or smaller gifts | Regular givers, appreciated stock, bunching | IRA owners 70½ and older | Significant wealth, family governance, multigenerational giving |
| Tax benefit | Deductible if you itemize; up to $1,000 ($2,000 joint) if you don’t (2026) | Deductible in the year you contribute | Not counted as taxable income; counts toward RMDs starting at 73 | Deductible in the year you contribute |
| Appreciated stock | Sell first; capital gains apply | Give directly; generally no capital gains | Not applicable (IRA money only) | Give directly; generally no capital gains |
| Limits to know | Standard deduction: $32,200 joint, $16,100 single (2026) | Doesn’t qualify for the non-itemizer deduction | Up to $111,000 (2026); can’t go to a DAF | At least 5% of assets given out each year |
| Paperwork | None | Very low | Low (your custodian handles the transfer) | High (annual Form 990-PF) |
| Family involvement | None | Limited | None | Formal board and governance |
| Named legacy | No | Optional | No | Yes |
Why October, Not December
It’s tempting to leave this for December. But moving stock into a DAF takes time to process. A QCD needs your custodian’s paperwork done before year-end. The longer you wait, the fewer options you have.
It’s also a conversation that goes better with both of you in it. The giving decisions that stick, the ones that reflect what a couple believes, come from talking it through with some breathing room, not a solo decision on December 30.
Picture this instead: your gifts are set by Thanksgiving, the stock you’d been meaning to sell is working for the causes you care about, and your RMD is handled. No year-end scramble.
One more thing. Most people never mention their charitable giving to their CPA or financial advisor. If the goal is simply to give, that’s fine. If you want to give strategically, it’s the first conversation to have. Tell us what you’re planning before December 31, and we can help you find a smarter way to do it. And if gifts to family are part of the picture too, start with gifting as part of your financial plan.
