For most U.S. donors, more than half of all charitable giving happens in the last six weeks of the calendar year. Year-end is the season when bonuses settle, RMDs come due, advisors call about portfolio rebalancing, and donors make the gifts they have been thinking about all year. This guide is a plain-English reference to the year-end mechanics for U.S. donors supporting Israeli Torah education — including which gift types have which deadlines, what counts as a 2026 gift versus a 2027 gift, and how to choose between cash, stock, IRA, and DAF.
The five-second orientation
Three things to know:
- For a 2026 deduction, the IRS uses a delivery standard. A check has to be postmarked by 12/31/2026. A credit card has to be charged by 12/31/2026. A stock transfer has to settle in the recipient's brokerage account by 12/31/2026.
- Different gift vehicles have different practical deadlines. Stock and DAF grants need lead time — usually 1–2 weeks before December 31 — because brokerage and DAF systems queue up at year-end.
- If you are 70½ or older, an IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution is almost always the most tax-efficient gift available to you. The transfer counts toward your RMD and is excluded from taxable income — meaning the full amount funds the charity without ever appearing on your 1040.
Year-end deadlines, by gift vehicle
| Gift vehicle | Year-end deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Credit / debit card · ACH | 11:59 PM, Dec 31 | Charge or initiation date is what matters. Most donors give online December 31 itself. |
| Check by mail | Postmark Dec 31 | The IRS counts mailing date for postmarked checks — not the date the charity receives or deposits. |
| Wire transfer | Initiated by mid-December | Domestic settles in 1 business day; international 2–4 days. For Dec 31 credit, send the wire by Dec 22 to be safe. |
| Appreciated stock (DTC transfer) | Initiate by mid-December | Brokers process December transfers slowly. Initiate by Dec 15 to be safe; the gift counts when the shares hit the charity's account. |
| Donor-advised fund grant | Recommend by Dec 15 | You took the deduction when you funded the DAF. The grant itself is timed to the charity's needs, not your tax year. |
| IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution | Custodian must transmit by Dec 31 | For 2026: up to $108,000 per individual. The check must leave your IRA custodian by year-end. Initiate by Dec 1. |
| Real estate, life insurance, business interests | Allow weeks | Non-cash gifts above $5,000 require Form 8283 and often a qualified appraisal. Begin in October at the latest. |
Why appreciated stock is often the best Q4 gift
If you hold appreciated long-term stock or ETFs and you plan to make a year-end charitable gift anyway, donating the shares directly is almost always more efficient than selling them and donating the cash. Two reasons. First, you avoid the long-term capital gains tax you would have paid on a sale (15% or 20% federal, plus state). Second, you take the full fair-market-value deduction subject to the 30% AGI cap. The same gift dollar can be 15–25% more impactful — same gift to you, more dollars to the charity, less tax to the government.
The mechanics are not complicated. Email the charity for the brokerage's DTC routing. Forward the routing to your broker with the security ticker, share count, and your contact information. The broker initiates the transfer; the charity acknowledges receipt with a written letter (which is your tax document). Plan for two weeks at year-end. Read more →
The IRA QCD — the most tax-efficient gift if you qualify
For donors 70½ or older, a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is a transfer directly from your IRA to a public charity. In 2026, you can transfer up to $108,000 per individual ($216,000 per couple), indexed annually. The QCD counts toward your Required Minimum Distribution, so it satisfies the RMD obligation. And the transfer is excluded from your taxable income — which is more favorable than receiving the RMD as taxable income and then deducting the gift on Schedule A.
The mechanics are equally simple. Contact your IRA custodian (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, Pershing, etc.) and request a direct transfer to "Torah Schools for Israel — Chinuch Atzmai, Inc., EIN 13-1965385, 1072 Madison Avenue, Lakewood NJ 08701." The custodian sends the check directly to the charity. We acknowledge receipt with a letter that satisfies the IRS substantiation rules. Read more →
The DAF grant — most flexible
If you have a fund at Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, the Jewish Communal Fund, or any other DAF sponsor, recommending a grant to Chinuch Atzmai takes about three minutes through your sponsor's online portal. Your tax deduction was already taken when you funded the DAF, so there is no further tax paperwork to worry about. The grant itself can be issued in any month you choose; we recommend December for sponsorships meant to fund the school year, and the spring for a Pesach-cycle gift.
How much to give
The U.S. tax code generally allows you to deduct cash gifts to public charities up to 60% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). For appreciated long-term securities, the limit is 30% of AGI. Excess deductions can be carried forward for five years. The actual right number depends on your income, your other deductions, and your overall philanthropic plan — work with your accountant. As a starting point: many donors aim to give 5–15% of after-tax income to charity each year, with a higher concentration in years of unusually high income (a bonus year, an exit, an inheritance).
What we hope you do, in order
- Set up a recurring sponsorship if you don't have one. $30/month is one child; $60 is two; $180 is six. The recurring gift is what funds the steady operating cost of the schools. Card on file, no need to do anything next year.
- Add a year-end gift in whichever vehicle is most efficient for you — likely stock or DAF or IRA QCD if you're eligible.
- Consider a tribute or yahrzeit dedication for someone you love. The dedication is renewed automatically each year on the same Hebrew date.
- If you're a major donor, talk to our partnerships team about regional, school, or program endowments — gifts that compound their effect across decades. Email partners@chinuchatzmai.org.
What we will do, in order
- Send you a receipt within minutes (for online gifts) or within one business day (for stock, wire, IRA, or check).
- Send a year-end summary in January 2027 covering all of your 2026 giving.
- Honor your gift, allocate it according to your designation if any, and use it for the work it was intended for. Always.
- Stay in touch — quarterly, no more than that. The schools, the buses, the rebbeim, the children. Stories from the field.
If you have a specific question — a stock that needs DTC routing, an IRA custodian requesting acknowledgment, a DAF sponsor asking for our EIN — write to partners@chinuchatzmai.org and we will respond within one business day.
This is general information, not tax advice. Please consult your accountant or tax attorney for your specific situation.