Charitable giving: 5 tax-smart moves to make before 2026 ends

If you’re unsure how recent tax changes may affect your charitable giving, you’re not alone.

Your charitable giving strategy deserves a second look this year. The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act introduced new rules that could influence how much of your giving is deductible and which strategies make the most sense for your situation.

Signed into law in 2025, the OBBB reinstates a charitable deduction for non-itemizers, establishes a new deduction threshold for itemizers, and changes how charitable deductions are calculated for some higher-income taxpayers. The law also increased the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, prompting changes in itemization status for many donors.

If you're unsure how these changes may affect you, you're not alone. Many donors remain uncertain about what these changes mean in practice. Fidelity Charitable’s new research report, “The guidance gap (opens in new tab or window),” found that 58% of 1,000 donors are unaware that the OBBB introduced changes that could affect the tax benefits of charitable giving. In addition, donor questions are widespread about how much charitable giving can be deducted, which gifts qualify for deductions, and when donations should be made to potentially maximize tax benefits.

If you are also among the majority of donors (88%) who plan to maintain or increase their giving this year, the bigger question may be whether your current giving strategy is still the most effective one.

As year-end approaches, now may be an ideal time to review your charitable strategy. These five tax-smart moves can help.

1. Know your current itemization status and document your giving

One of the most important charitable planning questions this year is whether you'll itemize deductions or take the standard deduction on your 2026 tax return.

If you take the standard deduction, the OBBB reinstates a charitable deduction for cash gifts, making it possible to deduct up to $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. This provision is not indexed for future inflation, and donations to donor-advised fund (DAF) sponsors and some private foundations are ineligible for the deduction.

If you itemize, new deduction thresholds may affect how much of your giving is eligible for a deduction because charitable contributions must exceed certain thresholds before some deductions can be claimed.

Fidelity Charitable’s research found that the OBBB likely led to an increase in itemizers, with about 15% of donors overall switching from taking the standard deduction to itemizing in 2025. If your itemization status has changed, now may be the time to adjust your giving strategy.

But even if your status hasn’t changed, you’ll want to keep track of all documentation of your giving, such as acknowledgment letters from charities you supported, to be able to claim a deduction. You’ll also want to be sure you meet all deadlines, such as making the donation before December 31.

2. Consider whether bunching your contributions makes sense

You may be close to the threshold of itemizing. Or you may be an itemizer who can now deduct only a portion of your usual charitable giving due to the new floor on giving. As of 2026, itemizers can only deduct charitable giving that is greater than 0.5% of their adjusted gross income (AGI)—so an itemizer with an AGI of $200,000 could only deduct total donations in excess of $1,000.

If these situations apply to you, bunching charitable donations into a single tax year could be worth exploring. Rather than giving $5,000 annually over several years, for example, a donor might contribute $15,000 in one year. Concentrating donations into a single year may allow you to deduct a greater overall amount of your gift. For example, the donor with the $200,000 income would be eligible to deduct $2,000 more by bunching than by giving the same $15,000 amount spread over a period of three years.

Many donors use a donor-advised fund (DAF) to make bunching easier. A DAF allows you to contribute several years’ worth of charitable funding to the DAF-sponsoring charity in one tax year and then recommend grants to charities over future years.

3. Choose the smartest asset to give

Many donors focus primarily on how much to give. However, equally important is what to give.

Most individuals still donate cash, which is the only type of charitable contribution that can be deducted on income taxes by non-itemizers.

However, appreciated non-cash assets, such as publicly traded stock or cryptocurrency, will often be among the most tax-efficient assets to donate. That’s because, when donating non-cash assets, donors may not only qualify for an income tax deduction for the fair market value of the stock but will also eliminate capital gains taxes that would typically be due if the asset were sold first.

Reviewing your mix of assets for charitable giving could help you maximize both tax efficiency and charitable impact.

4. Use the right giving tools and methods

Recent tax law changes make this a good time to consider whether you’re using the right tools for your charitable giving. A DAF can give you more flexibility by allowing you to make a charitable contribution when it makes sense for you financially while supporting charities over time. It can also help simplify recordkeeping and make managing your giving easier, especially if donating non-cash assets.

If you’re age 70½ or older, and subject to required minimum distributions (RMDs) from an IRA, you may want to explore qualified charitable distributions (QCDs). By transferring funds directly from an IRA to eligible charities, a QCD can help you support the causes you care about—without having to include the amount donated as income on your taxes. It's important to note that a contribution to a DAF-sponsoring charity is not QCD-eligible. For the 2026 tax year, a direct transfer to charities of up to $111,000 can be used to fulfill your RMD requirements.

The right strategy depends on your goals, assets, and tax situation. Before year-end, consider whether your current approach is helping you make the most of your charitable impact and potential tax benefits.

5. Don't wait until December to make a plan

Waiting until the final weeks of the year can limit your options, especially as some types of donations can take longer to process. Planning earlier gives you more time to assess how to maximize your giving this year in light of the tax changes, evaluate charitable strategies, identify assets to donate, and determine which charitable vehicle or method makes the most sense.

A conversation with a financial advisor or tax professional can help ensure your charitable giving strategy reflects both your philanthropic goals and the current tax landscape. In fact, donors who discussed charitable giving with an advisor were 31 percentage points more likely to understand recent tax law changes (65% vs. 34%) and were more likely to feel that their planning decisions were on the right track. If you have a year-end check-in scheduled with a tax advisor, be sure to put giving on the agenda.