If your email inbox, and maybe even your actual mailbox, is any indication, year-end must be right around the corner! You’ve likely started receiving tax tips, charitable giving strategies, and appeals from organizations you care about. It can be a lot to sort through.
The good news? Thoughtful year-end giving doesn’t have to be complicated. The Lenawee Community Foundation can help you focus on what matters most, work alongside your tax and financial advisors, and explore giving strategies that make sense for you and the causes you care about.
As you look toward the end of 2026, here are five things worth considering.
1. Start With What You Want Your Giving to Accomplish
Before getting into tax deductions or deciding which assets to give, start with a more personal question: What do you want your generosity to make possible?
Perhaps you want to continue supporting organizations that have been important to you for years. Maybe you’d like to respond to an emerging need in Lenawee County, involve your children or grandchildren in giving, or set aside resources now for charitable decisions you’ll make later.
This is where our team can be especially helpful. Because we’re connected to the organizations and people doing important work throughout Lenawee County, we can help you learn more about the causes you care about, introduce you to opportunities you may not yet know about, and share what we’re seeing and learning about our community’s changing needs.
Start with what matters to you. The giving strategy can follow.
2. Consider What You Give, Not Just How Much
Writing a check or using a credit card may be convenient, but cash isn’t necessarily the most tax-efficient asset to give.
If you own publicly traded stock or other assets that have appreciated significantly, donating those assets directly to your fund at the Foundation or another charity may allow you to avoid capital gains tax that could apply if you sold the asset first, while potentially qualifying for a charitable deduction based on fair market value, subject to applicable rules and limitations.
The Foundation can accept not only publicly traded securities but also more complex assets, such as closely held business interests or real estate. If you’re considering selling a highly appreciated asset, talk with your professional advisors and our team before the sale takes place. That conversation can open up charitable options that may no longer be available once the transaction is complete.
3. Take Another Look at the 2026 Tax Rules
Several important changes to federal charitable giving rules took effect in 2026.
Taxpayers who itemize generally can deduct charitable contributions only to the extent the contributions exceed 0.5% of adjusted gross income. For taxpayers in the highest federal income tax bracket, a new limitation also generally reduces the maximum federal income tax benefit of itemized deductions from 37% to 35%.
At the same time, taxpayers who do not itemize may now claim a deduction of up to $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly for qualifying cash gifts to certain public charities. Gifts to donor-advised funds, private foundations, and certain other organizations do not qualify for this new deduction.
So, what might these changes mean for your charitable giving? The timing and structure of your gifts may be worth another conversation with your advisors.
For example, some donors may benefit from “bunching” several years of charitable contributions into a single year rather than giving the same amount every year. Our team can work alongside your tax advisor to explore approaches that support your charitable goals while taking your individual tax situation into consideration.
4. If You’re 70½ or Older, Don’t Overlook Your IRA
A qualified charitable distribution, or QCD, can be a useful charitable planning tool for eligible IRA owners.
In 2026, eligible IRA owners age 70½ and older may direct up to $111,000 from an IRA. A QCD is excluded from taxable income and, for donors who are subject to required minimum distributions, can count toward satisfying the RMD.
There are important rules about where QCDs can go. For example, they cannot be made to donor-advised funds. But the Lenawee Community Foundation offers other types of funds that can receive QCDs, including, in many cases, designated funds that support particular charities, field-of-interest funds focused on particular causes, and unrestricted funds that allow the Foundation to respond to changing community needs.
If you’re eligible for a QCD, talk with our team and your professional advisors about whether it could be a good fit for your year-end giving plans.
5. Don’t Wait Until the Last Week of December!
Perhaps the simplest year-end giving tip is also one of the most important: Start now.
Stock gifts take time to transfer. Gifts of real estate, closely held business interests, and other complex assets may require appraisals, due diligence, and coordination among multiple advisors. Even a relatively straightforward charitable plan can become more difficult when everyone is racing toward a December 31 deadline.
Now is a great time to look at what you’ve already given this year, what you still hope to accomplish, and which assets might make the most sense to use.
And remember, you don’t have to sort through all those year-end giving decisions alone. Bring the Lenawee Community Foundation into the conversation with your CPA, financial advisor, or estate planning attorney. We’re happy to work alongside you and your advisors to explore your options and help connect your charitable plans with meaningful impact.
Because at the end of the day, year-end giving isn’t just about December 31. It’s about what you want your generosity to make possible, now and for the future.