4 Tips To Maximize Your Year-End Giving

Placer Community Foundation (PCF) is your resource for meaningful giving that represents your vision and values for the community, while also providing tax-saving benefits. We, along with charities and tax planning professionals nationwide are keeping watch on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) which was signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025.

The OBBBA, with nearly 900 pages of provisions, reshapes policy across major sectors of the U.S. economy. Included in the OBBBA are several provisions that impact philanthropy.

Here are some tools we’ve learned from tax specialists that may maximize your charitable giving in 2025, before additional provisions of OBBBA take effect in 2026.

Please note that a factor for determining the tax benefits of a charitable gift is whether or not you itemize your tax return. These are conver­sations to have with your tax and financial professional to determine the best tax savings strategy, while optimizing your gift. PCF recommends you keep the following in mind when having these conversations:

1) Bunching: Bigger Benefits in 2025 Under OBBBA

With the passing of OBBBA, standard deduction amounts have increased for the 2025 tax year to $15,750 for single filers, $31,500 for joint filers, and $23,625 for heads of households. Whether or not you itemize your tax returns, if you usually give $20,000 each year, it may make sense for you to contribute two to even three years’ worth in 2025. By doing so, it may allow you to receive a tax benefit because your total deductions now exceed the standard deduction.

Combining or “bunching” 2025 and 2026 charitable contributions into one year (2025) using a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) at PCF allows you to make multiple years' worth of charitable contributions and then support favorite charities out of that DAF over the next several years.

2) Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) From Your IRA: More Important Than Ever for Your Charitable Giving

Whether itemizing deductions or taking the standard deduction, if you are age 70½ and older, you can direct up to $108,000 per year tax-free from your IRA to a public charity like Placer Community Foundation through a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). If you are age 73 or older and taking in a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), a QCD can help reduce the income tax due on your RMD income.

QCDs are excluded from income entirely, which means they reduce your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)—unlike charitable deductions. Additionally, by reducing your IRA balance, a QCD may also reduce your taxable income in future years and lower your taxable estate.

Further to this, consider naming PCF as a beneficiary of your IRA. Public charities like PCF do not pay tax on IRA income, which means every penny of your donation can be directed, beyond your lifetime, to support all your charitable goals in one plan at PCF.

3) Giving Appreciated Stock Instead of Cash

One of the most effective tax-smart strategies for achieving maximum charitable impact is donating appreciated stock held more than one year. This strategy can generally eliminate capital gains tax you would otherwise incur if you sold the assets first and then donated the proceeds.

4) Consider a Donor Advised Fund at Placer Community Foundation

A Donor Advised Fund at PCF makes charitable giving tax-smart, simple and efficient. Once you make the establishing gift to open the fund, you have the flexibility to make grants in your name over time as well as contribute to it again when it makes sense in a given tax year. Plus, you have the expertise of PCF staff on hand to help connect you to high-impact giving opportunities.

Interested in learning more about ways PCF can help your charitable interests? Contact Philanthropic Services Manager Jessica Hubbard for a free, no obligation, consultation at Jhubbard@placercf.org or 530-885-4920.

The team at Placer Community Foundation is a resource and sounding board to serve your philanthropic goals. We understand the charitable side of the equation and are happy to serve as a secondary source as you manage your financial plans with your tax and financial professional. This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.