Smarter Giving: four ways to give more and keep less going to taxes

Most families give the way they always have: a check or a card, usually cash, usually in December. It works. But it often leaves real money on the table — money that could have gone to your church or a cause instead of to tax you never had to pay.

Generosity is the point. The tax savings are just a way to make sure more of what you give reaches the work you care about, and less of it leaks out along the way.

This guide covers four moves that do exactly that — and not one of them asks you to give a dollar more than you already planned:

• Give appreciated stock instead of cash. Skip the capital-gains tax you’d owe on the sale, and generally deduct the full value anyway.
• Use a donor-advised fund. Take the deduction in the year you contribute, then give it out to your church and causes on your own schedule.
• Bunch a few years of giving into one. So it clears the standard deduction and actually counts, instead of quietly earning you nothing.
• Give from your IRA after 70½ (a QCD). Keep the amount off your income entirely — which can lower the tax on your Social Security and your Medicare premiums too.

The full guide walks through each one in plain language, with illustrative examples and the math, plus a short decision guide for which to use when. Grab the PDF below and we’ll send a copy to your inbox.