To ensure your year-end giving goes as smoothly as possible, we want to highlight a few key dates and several charitable giving benefits to consider for 2021.
Year-End Grants from Your Donor Advised Fund
- The turnaround time from receipt of grant recommendations to issuance of a check is approximately two weeks.
- Grant recommendations should be made in the Donor Portal by December 14, 2021 to facilitate issuing grant checks prior to year-end. Please contact CFSA at donorportal@cfsaz.org for assistance accessing the portal.
- If the grant needs to be counted for a year-end match, please contact CFSA as soon as possible by calling 520-770-0800 or sending an email to finance@cfsaz.org.
Year-End Gifts Dates + Deadlines
- Checks sent via the U.S. Postal Service to CFSA must be postmarked on or before December 31, 2021. Our mailing address is 5049 E. Broadway Blvd., Suite 201, Tucson, AZ, 85711.
- Checks sent via carriers such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL must be physically received on or before December 31, 2021.
- Online contributions may be made until December 31, 2021 at cfsaz.org/give/.
- Wire transfers of cash must be initiated no later than December 28, 2021. Please contact the CFSA Finance Team for transfer instructions.
- Gifts of appreciated stock should be made by December 23, 2021. Please contact the CFSA Finance Team as soon as possible for specific transfer instructions.
- Gifts of mutual funds should be initiated by December 10, 2021 at the latest. Because they often take longer to complete, we recommend initiating mutual fund transfers by Wednesday, December 1, 2021. You may also wish to contact your financial services firm because they may have deadlines for initiating transfers to ensure we receive them by year-end. Please contact the CFSA Finance Team as soon as possible for specific transfer instructions.
- To make a Qualified Charitable Distribution from your IRA, we recommend starting the process as soon as possible to ensure that your gift is received by CFSA on or before December 31, 2021. Although IRA Distributions cannot be contributed to a donor advised fund or a supporting organization, they offer an opportunity to reduce your taxable income while supporting a scholarship, field-of-interest, or designated fund, including the initiatives and funds at CFSA, such as our CORE Grants Program, Center for Healthy Nonprofits, or Field of Interest Impact Funds.
Extended + Expanded CARES Act Provisions*
Several of the charitable giving provisions established through the CARES Act in 2020 were extended or expanded into 2021.* It is important to note that the suspension of the Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) from most retirement plans has not been extended into 2021.
- Continued $300 deduction for those who claim the standard deduction.
Individuals who plan to take the standard deduction for their 2021 tax returns may claim an above-the-line deduction of up to $300 for cash donations to qualifying public charities. - Expanded $600 deduction for married couples who claim the standard deduction.
For 2021, this above-the-line deduction has increased to $600 for cash donations for married couples filing jointly who do not itemize tax deductions. - Charitable giving deduction limit increased to 100% of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) on cash donations for those who itemize.
Donors may continue to receive a federal income tax deduction for charitable contributions of up to 100% of their AGI for certain cash donations made during calendar year 2021. Prior to 2020, the deduction was limited to 60% of AGI. - AGI limit for cash contributions increased to 25% of taxable income for corporations.
Corporations may continue to deduct up to 25% of taxable income for any cash contributions made to qualified charitable organizations. Prior to 2020, deductions for cash donations were limited to 10% of the corporation’s taxable income.