The deduction attaches to money going in. A community foundation that pays out $46.6 million in a year is spending gifts made across many prior years, and the write-off on each of those gifts was taken in the year it arrived. The figure that carries a deduction is the contributions line.
The calculator
Federal rules only. Wyoming levies no income tax, so a Wyoming donor's entire benefit is federal. Illustrative, and not tax advice.
The three containers
All three produce a deduction in the year the gift is made. They differ on how much of a donor's income the deduction may offset, on whether anything obliges the money to move again, and on what the public filing shows.
| A working public charity | A donor-advised fund | A private foundation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceiling, cash | 60% of AGI | 60% of AGI | 30% of AGI |
| Ceiling, appreciated stock | 30% of AGI | 30% of AGI | 20% of AGI |
| Value of appreciated stock | Full market value, gain untaxed | Full market value, gain untaxed | Full market value for publicly traded stock; cost basis for most other property |
| Obligation to distribute | None; the charity spends on its own schedule | None | 5% of assets each year |
| What the annual filing shows | The charity's own spending | The sponsor's grants out, never who advised them | Every grant, by recipient, amount and stated purpose |
| Excise tax on investment income | None | None | 1.39% |
A grant from a private foundation into a donor-advised fund counts toward the foundation's 5% obligation. The money leaves an account with an annual distribution requirement and arrives in one without.
The rules for a gift made in 2026
- A floor. An itemizer deducts charitable gifts only to the extent they exceed 0.5% of adjusted gross income. Corporations face a 1% floor on taxable income.
- A ceiling on the benefit. For a taxpayer in the 37% bracket, the value of an itemized deduction is capped at 35 cents on the dollar.
- Annual limits. 60% of AGI for cash to a public charity, 30% for appreciated capital-gain property, 30% and 20% respectively for a private foundation. Amounts above the limit carry forward five years.
- Appreciated assets. Stock held more than a year is deducted at market value and the built-in gain is never taxed by anyone. At a 23.8% combined rate, that adds about 24 cents for every dollar of gain.
- Non-itemizers. A deduction of up to $1,000 for a single filer and $2,000 for a couple, for cash gifts. Gifts to a donor-advised fund sponsor and to most private foundations do not qualify.
- Estate tax. Assets given away during life or by bequest leave the taxable estate. The saving depends on the estate's size and is not estimable from any annual return.
The Community Foundation's own numbers
Contributions received, from Form 990 Part VIII, with the noncash portion from Schedule M. Doc
| Year | Contributions | Noncash | Stock gifts | Income tax deduction at 37% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $71,155,947 | $8,992,437 | $8,897,498 · 302 gifts | about $26,300,000 |
| 2023 | $49,784,881 | $6,428,430 | $6,428,430 · 238 gifts | about $18,400,000 |
| 2022 | $56,795,076 | $15,549,218 | $4,049,218 · 83 gifts, plus $11,500,000 of appraised real estate | about $21,000,000 |
Derived Across the three years the foundation took in $177,735,904 in contributions. At the 37% top rate in force for those years, the income tax deduction on them comes to roughly $65,800,000. The three years hold $19,375,146 of donated stock; capital gains never collected on it adds up to $4,600,000 more at a 23.8% combined rate, treating the whole value as gain. The 2022 real estate gifts and the estate component cannot be estimated from a 990. These figures assume every donor sat in the top bracket, which no filing reports; the real total is lower, and the direction of the error is known.
In 2024 the foundation paid out $46,619,949 and took in $71,155,947. The gifts that arrived that year carried a federal deduction of roughly $26 to $28 million, claimed in 2024. When each of those dollars reaches a working charity is set by the fund holder, and for an advised fund no deadline applies.
Old Bill's
Old Bill's Fun Run brought in $23,400,067 from 4,009 donors in 2024, an average of about $5,800. Most of those donors sit well below the top bracket, and many take the standard deduction and receive nothing back. The subsidy described on this page scales with the giver's income: the same $10,000 returns $2,200 to one household and $3,500 to another, and the larger the gift and the more appreciated the asset, the wider the gap.
What the donor gives up
- The gift is irrevocable. Legal ownership passes to the charity or the sponsor on the day it is made, and no mechanism returns it.
- The money can only ever go to a charity. A donor who wants it back, or who directs it to a private benefit, loses the deduction and can face penalties.
- Advisory privileges over a donor-advised fund are a right to recommend. The sponsor holds legal control and can decline.
- Every dollar of subsidy is a fraction of the gift. A donor in the top bracket who gives $1,000,000 in cash is out $650,000 of their own money.
Sources
- Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, Forms 990, EIN 83-0308856, tax years 2022 through 2024, Part VIII and Schedule M, IRS e-file XML. Doc
- Internal Revenue Code §170 and IRS Publication 526 for the percentage limits, the carryforward and the treatment of capital-gain property. General
- Public Law 119-21 for the 0.5% floor, the 35% benefit cap, the permanent 60% cash limit and the non-itemizer deduction, effective for tax years beginning after 2025. General
- Internal Revenue Code §1411 for the 3.8% net investment income tax, and §4940 for the private foundation excise tax. General
- Roger Colinvaux and Ray Madoff on the combined federal subsidy for a donor-advised fund gift, cited in the long explainer. General