Cash, Check, or Credit Card

Gifts of cash are the most common form of contribution to . A gift of cash is easy to do, and the gift is not subject to gift or estate taxation. A contribution that you postmark in December is deductible for that tax year—even if receives it in January—provided the account against which the check was written had sufficient funds to cover it in December.

A cash gift entitles you to a charitable deduction for the amount of your gift. You may deduct up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income for the year of your gift. If all deductible gifts in a year exceed the 50 percent limit, you may carry the excess amount over as a deduction for up to five years.

For example, Edna Smith has an adjusted gross income of $50,000 this year. She contributes $35,000 to . She may deduct $25,000 this year and carry forward $10,000 to deduct next year.

Pledges
Pledges provide you an opportunity to make a larger gift than you otherwise thought possible by committing your gift over a period of three to five years. Ideally, your pledge should be documented in writing.

Please note: Because the federal estate tax has been repealed for 2010, there is no current estate tax in 2010 for the gifts described on this page. However, the consensus opinion among professionals is that Congress will enact an estate-tax law that may be retroactive to January 1, 2010. It is very important that you seek the advice of your estate-planning attorney to determine what changes, if any, need to be made to your existing estate plans, and then again if Congress reinstates the estate tax sometime later this year.
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