Maximize Your Charitable Gifting Strategy

Year end typically sparks tax planning and charitable gifting. Whatever your reason for giving this year, it’s important to know how your charitable contributions can impact your financial plans. In fact, being strategic and intentional with your charitable contributions can create tax benefits for both you and your chosen charity.

Follow the six tips below to maximize your charitable giving strategy this year:

1. Research Charitable Organizations

Maximize the impact your monetary donation can have by selecting reputable and transparent organizations. A qualified charity will have 501(c)(3) status, indicating that it is federally recognized as a non-profit organization.

Third-party websites like Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, Guidestar and Give Well offer unbiased independent ratings and evaluations of charitable organizations. These sites can offer important insights into how donated money is distributed. If you’re considering making a sizeable donation, it may also be helpful to speak directly with the chosen charity to discuss how the gift will be used.

If you haven’t already, check with your employer about what opportunities they provide regarding charitable giving. For example, some employers will match employees’ donations to certain organizations.

2. Bundle Your Donations

As deduction thresholds have increased over the years, you may choose to save money over time and donate every few years as opposed to consecutively each year.¹ By doing this, you may receive itemized deductions that exceed the limit one year and take the standard deduction the next.

If you’re interested in accomplishing this, you might consider a donor-advised fund that allows you to make a charitable donation and receive an immediate tax break. Then, your preferred charities will receive grants from the fund over time.²

3. Make Non-Cash Donations

Many charities welcome non-cash donations. In fact, donating appreciated stock can be a tax-savvy move.

For example, you may wish to consider gifting highly appreciated securities. Since selling securities can lead to a taxable event, it may be wiser to transfer appreciated securities directly to your charity of choice.

Such a transfer can accomplish three things:³

You can avoid paying the capital gains tax you would normally pay upon selling the shares.
You may be able to take a current-year tax deduction for the full fair market value of the shares.
The charity gets the full value of the shares, not their after-tax net value.

4. Utilize Your IRA

If you’re a retiree over the age of 70½, you might consider transferring money from your IRA to a qualifying charity. These distributions can be a tax-efficient way of meeting any required minimum distribution. Additionally, there’s no need to itemize your deductions to benefit.

Each taxpayer may distribute up to $100,000 annually. This increases to an acceptable $200,000 for married couples if they both have IRAs.⁴ Although this strategy has existed for some time, it has only recently become a part of the permanent tax code.

5. Transfer Your Life Insurance Policy

Do you have a life insurance policy? If you make an irrevocable gift of that policy to a qualified charity, you may get a current-year income tax deduction. If you keep paying the policy premiums, each payment may become a deductible charitable donation—although deduction limits may apply.⁵

If you continue to pay premiums after making the gift, doing so could also reduce the size of your taxable estate. The death benefit may be transferred out of your taxable estate, in any case.

Consider determining whether you are insurable before implementing any strategy involving life insurance. Any guarantees associated with a policy are dependent on the ability of the issuing insurance company to continue making claim payments. Several factors will affect the cost and availability of life insurance, including your age, health status, and the type and amount of insurance purchased. Life insurance policies have expenses, including mortality and other charges. If a policy is surrendered prematurely, the policyholder may also have to pay surrender charges, and there may be income tax implications.

6. Consider Itemizing Your Deductions

To deduct charitable donations, you must itemize them on IRS Schedule A form.⁶ To do this, you’ll need to keep track of each donation you make to a charitable organization throughout the year. In most cases, the charity can provide you with a form to document your contribution. If the charity does not have such a form handy (and some do not), you may be able to use other forms of proof, including:

Receipts
Credit or debit card statements
Bank statements
Canceled checks

When reporting deductions, the IRS may want to know a few important details, such as the name of the charity, the gifted amount, and the date of your gift. Remember, itemized deductions may only have tax benefits when they exceed the standard income tax deduction, so be sure to check on the standard deduction amount for your tax filing status.

Whatever your situation, getting advice from a tax or other financial professional can help you give wisely as the year comes to a close. If charitable giving is an important part of your financial plan, it’s important to make sure you’re getting the most value out of each donation.