Cash, Check, or Credit Card Gifts

A cash gift entitles you to a charitable income-tax deduction for the amount of your gift. You may deduct up to 60 percent of your adjusted gross income for the year of your gift. If all deductible gifts in a year exceed the 60 percent limit, you may carry the excess amount over as a deduction for up to five more years.

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  Example: Joan has an adjusted gross income of $100,000 this year. She uses some of her cash investments to make a special gift of $75,000. She may deduct $60,000 this year and carry forward the remaining $15,000. Assuming her income the following year is at least $25,000, she could deduct the amount carried forward on her return for that year.

 
The rules regarding the deductibility of a cash, check, or credit card gift within the tax year vary:

• A contribution of cash or check that is postmarked by the USPS in December is deductible for that tax year — even if the UW Foundation receives it in January — provided that the account against which the check was written had sufficient funds to cover it in December.
• For gifts sent via third parties such as FedEx and UPS, the gift date is the date when the package is received, not the date when it was sent.
• A contribution by credit card must be charged by December 31 in order to be deductible for that tax year.

To ensure the prompt processing of your mailed gift, we recommend submitting the gift to our secure lockbox address:

Pledges

Pledges provide you with an opportunity to make a larger gift than you may have thought possible because you can commit your gift over a period of three to five years, or more in some cases. Ideally, your pledge should be documented in writing.