Planned giving to charitable organizations can help them improve their philanthropic operations. It’s also an opportunity to allow your own generosity to benefit you and your financial situation at the same time with savvy charitable giving strategies. Ready to give — and also make that gift a win for your favorite cause?

Whether you’re considering a donation large or small, there are a few ways to make it go further on the tax side of things. Read on to learn about charitable giving opportunities, from direct contributions to donor-advised funds (DAFs), and the tax perks they can bring. Plus, be on the lookout for some last-chance opportunities before 2025 comes to an end. 

Tax-Efficient Charitable Giving

Incentives exist in the tax code, and certain tools can help you enhance your charitable giving tax strategies. If you’re charitably inclined, it can be difficult to know where to start planning. The first step in tax-efficient giving? Checking to see if the charity to which you’d like to donate has an IRS-registered 501(c)(3) designation. It’s easy with the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search Tool. If your cause shows in the results, you’re good to go!

Next up: See how your donation could benefit you. The standard deduction for tax year 2025 has increased to $15,750 for individuals and $31,500 for married couples filing taxes jointly. That means a higher bar for donation deductibility for those who itemize their tax deductions. It also opens up an opportunity to make multiple years’ worth of donations in a single tax year to get over that bar.

Charitable Contribution Limits in 2026

Starting next year, in 2026, a special above-the-line deduction will come into the tax picture for those who don’t itemize. Individuals will be able to deduct $1,000, and married couples filing jointly will be able to deduct $2,000. The caveat? It only applies to cash gifts and doesn’t include contributions to DAFs, which I’ll get to later. 

Another item that’s new for 2026: A 0.5% adjusted gross income (AGI) floor limiting smaller itemized deductions. In short, this means that smaller contributions won’t be eligible for a tax deduction, making charitable contribution bunching or grouping in a single tax year more important for some.

In comes that 2025 opportunity: By bunching or grouping charitable contributions in 2025, itemizers can make a big impact. Sure, the standard deduction hurdle is still part of the picture. But the AGI floor is not. And since the standard deduction is inflation-based, you can imagine that the hurdle will continue to exist and increase annually.

Ready to take advantage of this year’s opportunity … but don’t know which charities to which you’d like to give … and don’t have much time before the end of the tax year to make those decisions? 

What Is a Donor-Advised Fund?

A popular tool in the charitable giving space allows donors to make irrevocable charitable contributions to a unique type of investment account. Custodians like Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, and others offer donor-advised fund (DAF) accounts. Donors contribute to their DAFs, take a tax break for the year in which they made their donations, then recommend grants to public charities when they feel motivated to give.

A major benefit of DAFs is the ability to contribute multiple types of assets in addition to cash. Got cryptocurrency or employer stock with a low cost basis compared to its current value? Giving the stock directly to your charity of choice allows you to avoid the taxable event of selling the stock position while allowing the charity the full benefit. Their 501(c)(3) designation means they’re not paying taxes when they sell the stock position, after all. Some DAFs also allow contributions of real estate, private business interests, collectibles, and more.

While some limitations to investment selection exist within DAFs, donors don’t have to send out grants in the same year in which they contribute. That means the dollars in a DAF have the potential to grow over time, resulting in larger gifts to the recipient organization. Plus, donors have the choice to remain anonymous in the grants, so they don’t have to worry about ending up on the charity’s contact lists for future solicitations.

If you’re wondering how you can get started with charitable giving, head to our Meeting page and schedule some time. We’ll start with your tax projection, then spend some time discussing how your generosity could also benefit your tax situation. We’ll then assist as you implement your strategy in the way that makes the most sense for your wishes, the causes you care about, and your bottom line.