Year-End Planning

If charitable giving is part of your year-end plans, now is a perfect time to start thinking about how and when you want to make those gifts. Some of the strategies that provide the biggest tax benefits – leaving you with more to give – require time and planning to execute successfully. Here are a few you might want to consider.

Strategy #1: Should You Consider Bunching Your Gifts?

Bunching is a strategy in which taxpayers who typically make charitable gifts of roughly equal amounts every year consolidate two years of charitable gifts into one year to take advantage of the itemized charitable gift deductions. This strategy became popular after the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 increased the standard deduction for calculating income taxes. Since the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), the discussion about whether bunching is advantageous has become more nuanced. (Read about how the provisions in the OBBB may affect the value of bunching at madisongives.org/bunching-revisited.)

Your financial or tax advisor can help you determine whether bunching your charitable gifts makes sense for you. If it does, a donor advised fund at MCF can provide a way for you to easily make those gifts and distribute them over time if you choose.

Strategy #2: Does Donating Appreciated Stock Make Sense for You?

Using appreciated stock to fund your charitable donations makes sense from a tax perspective for most taxpayers. Because your charitable deduction is based on the stock’s fair market value at the time of donation, and because the charity can sell the stock without triggering capital gains tax, this strategy typically is beneficial.

Remember, however, that stock gifts are a little more complicated to process, and not all organizations may be able to accept them. MCF is happy to accept donations of public stock, but to process them as gifts made in 2026, we ask that you contact us to initiate the gift by December 1. If you’d like to make a gift to an organization that is not able to process stock gifts, consider contributing the stock to a passthrough donor advised fund and making the gift from there.

You can learn more about the types of assets MCF can accept at madisongives.org/ways-to-give.

Strategy #3: Can Your Retirement Plan Fund Your Giving?

If you have saved more in your individual retirement account than you need to cover your expenses, you can take advantage of a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from your IRA to fund your giving.

QCDs are available to anyone who has a traditional IRA and has reached age 70 ½. While you cannot direct a QCD to a donor advised fund, you can use one to create or grow a designated fund for a specific organization, a field of interest fund, or MCF’s Community Impact or Priority Funds.

You can learn more about at madisongives.org/QCDs.

Strategy #4: Have You Recommended Grants From Your Donor Advised Fund?

Tuesday, December 15 is the last day you can recommend distributions from your donor advised fund for 2026. If you still have funds to distribute from your fund, start planning today which organizations you’d like to support in 2026 so you can make your recommendations in time.

Final Note: Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute. Timing of Gifts Matters

If you are planning to make a gift in 2026, remember that timing is important. If you are going to mail a check to MCF, or to any nonprofit organization, it must be postmarked by December 31. If you are making a gift using a credit card, it must appear on your statement before December 31. So don’t leave your giving to the last minute – make a plan today.