Every 2026 deadline, by type of gift
| Gift | Counts for 2026 if | Our suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| Card gift online | It is charged by December 31, 2026. The IRS counts a card gift in the year of the charge, even if you pay the card bill in 2027. | Any day up to December 31. |
| Check by mail | You mail it by December 31, 2026 and it clears. The IRS counts a mailed check on the date you mail it. | How to prove the mailing date (postmark, a post office receipt) is a question for your tax preparer. Mailing a few days early removes the question. |
| Bank transfer (ACH) | IRS Publication 526 does not name bank transfers. Check with your tax preparer if yours is close to December 31. | Late in December, use a card instead. |
| From your IRA (QCD), 70½+ | The money leaves your IRA by December 31, 2026. Up to $111,000. | Ask your custodian for its cutoff now and send the request by early December. |
| Into your donor-advised fund | The fund's sponsor receives your contribution by December 31, under its own year-end rules. | Check your sponsor's year-end page. Stock and other assets take longer than cash. |
| Grant from your donor-advised fund | It does not change your taxes. The deduction came when you put money into the fund. | Recommend it whenever you like; a January grant is fine. |
Sources: IRS Publication 526, "When To Deduct" ("A check you mail to a charity is considered delivered on the date you mail it"; card gifts "are deductible in the year you make the charge"); Treasury regulation 26 CFR 1.170A-1(b) ("The unconditional delivery or mailing of a check which subsequently clears in due course" counts "on the date of delivery or mailing"); IRS Notice 2025-67 ($111,000); IRS, Donor-advised funds.
Giving Tuesday is December 1, 2026
Giving Tuesday falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. In 2026 that is December 1. Our online auction runs November 21 to December 1. Giving Tuesday 2026 at NYC Honor.
Source: givingtuesday.org.
IRA gifts take the longest
A gift from your IRA has to leave the account by December 31 to count for 2026, and the custodian has to process your request and cut a check first. Fidelity puts it this way: "The deadline to make a QCD is December 31 of the tax year for which you want it to count," and asks you to allow enough time for processing.
One open point: the IRS has not said whether a custodian check that leaves the IRA in December but reaches the charity in January counts for the year it left. Planner Michael Kitces notes "there is still some debate" and suggests the charity cash the check by December 31. Starting early avoids the question. If a custodian check is coming to us, tell us so we can watch for it and deposit it as soon as it arrives.
If 2026 is a required minimum distribution year for you, the gift counts toward it. Giving your RMD to charity in 2026.
Sources: Fidelity, Qualified charitable distributions; Kitces, QCD rules and requirements (on the debate over when a QCD check is complete); IRS Publication 590-B.
Donor-advised funds: two different dates
Money you put into a donor-advised fund by December 31 counts for 2026, because the sponsor takes legal control of it when you give it. When the fund later sends a grant to a charity, that grant has no tax date of its own for you. So if your fund is already set up, there is no year-end rush to recommend a grant to us, though we would gladly have it before the season. Gifts into a donor-advised fund do not count toward the new 2026 deduction for people who don't itemize. How to grant to NYC Honor from your fund.
Sources: IRS, Donor-advised funds ("Once the donor makes the contribution, the organization has legal control over it"); IRS Publication 526, "Contributions to Donor-Advised Funds"; Fidelity Charitable, year-end contribution guidelines.
New for 2026, if you don't itemize
From tax year 2026, people who take the standard deduction can also deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts ($2,000 married filing jointly). Card, check and bank gifts count; gifts to donor-advised funds do not. Deducting donations without itemizing.
Source: IRS Topic 506, Charitable contributions.
Give from your IRA to NYC Honor
If you are 70½ or older, you can send a gift straight from your IRA to NYC Honor. For 2026 you can give up to $111,000 this way, per IRS Notice 2025-67, and the gift stays out of your taxable income.
- Pay to
- NYC Honor Foundation Inc.
- EIN
- 42-1836369
- Mail the check to
- 7720 82nd St, Glendale, NY 11385-7635
What to tell your IRA custodian:
To count for 2026, the check has to leave your IRA by December 31, so give your custodian a few weeks. Curious what the gift saves you? Try the QCD calculator.
Custodian checks often arrive without your name on them. Tell us it's coming so we can thank you and send the acknowledgment you'll need for your taxes.
This is education, not advice
NYC Honor Foundation is a charity, not a tax or investment advisory firm. Talk to your own tax professional before you move money. Checked against the sources named on this page on October 14, 2026.