As the end of the year draws near, now is a great time for giving. When you make a donation to the Marietta Community Foundation, you aren’t just giving money—you are making a meaningful difference in your community. Here are ten ways to make the most of year-end giving!

1. Talk with your advisor

• Before making a significant charitable gift, consult with your CPA, attorney or advisor to fully understand the impact on your taxes and estate.

2. Review your income

• Take time to review and understand your tax liability for the year. Pay attention to unearned income and assets - were there significant changes? The answers may determine how much you want to give at the end of the year.

3. Explore employer gift matching programs

• Talk with your employer to see if they offer a gift matching program that can increase the impact of your gift.

4. Give appreciated stock

• If you would like to make a year-end charitable gift, consider giving appreciated stock. Selling stock will incur capital gains on the appreciation, but if you give stock as a charitable gift, you will receive a deduction for the current market value of the stock—just as you would with a cash gift.

5. Give before December 31st

• A gift by check is complete when mailed or postmarked to the charitable recipient, even if not cashed until the following year. Online gifts or gifts by credit card are considered complete when your credit card account is charged. Gifts of stock or real estate are more complex, you should not wait until late December to make these gifts as it may be too late to make the necessary arrangements.

6. Get to know your local nonprofits

• While there are many worthy organizations and causes, only donations to qualified 501(c)3 organizations are tax-deductible. If you decide to give through the Marietta Community Foundation, we will document the status of all nonprofits prior to making a gift on your behalf and our team can help you identify organizations that are qualified to receive your gift.

7. Do you have more than enough?

• If you are receiving taxable income from retirement plan assets or life insurance policies, there are a number of tax-advantaged ways to make these assets work for you and the charitable organizations you support. For example, the Charitable IRA Rollover Act allows donors age 70 ½ or older to donate as much as $100,000 from their IRA without counting the distribution as income.

8. Make a plan

• The Marietta Community Foundation can assist you in creating a giving plan and help you think strategically about how and to whom you give. Our staff will help to ensure that your donations make the greatest impact on the causes you care about, while maximizing tax advantages.

9. Let us work for you

• Working with the Marietta Community Foundation gives you access to our staff's extensive knowledge of the local nonprofit community and the broad charitable needs of the Mid-Ohio Valley. We help you stay informed about the organizations you support and the effect your giving will have on the future of your community.

10. Bunch Charitable Contributions

• The state and local tax deduction is now limited to $10,000 and the deduction for miscellaneous itemized deductions has been suspended. It may be beneficial to "bunch" multiple years of donations into one year and limit donations in the following year. This will enable you to itemize deductions in alternating years.