Gifts of Cash: The Details

Is this gift right for you?

You are considering an outright gift made during your lifetime.
You want a charitable deduction to offset the largest possible amount of your taxable income.
You have few appreciated, low-cost-basis securities or other assets to contribute.
You enjoy surplus cash flow after meeting your expenses.
You would like a charitable deduction today but wish to retain an income stream too.

If you want to help Yale today and maximize your charitable deduction, consider making your gift with cash. Cash is the simplest asset to donate — there is no appraisal to secure and no acceptance policies to follow. It is also the simplest asset for Yale to accept and quickly put to good use.

Make your cash gift via a check or money order, a credit card or a wire transfer.

There is an extra tax benefit:
You can claim the entire amount of your cash gift as a charitable income tax deduction. The IRS allows you to claim this deduction up to 50% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). If you used appreciated securities or other assets to make your gift, your deduction would be the same, but you would only be able to claim the deduction up to 30% of AGI.

(You can claim excess deductions over the five tax years following your gift.)

Remember

Although a cash gift can provide immediate benefit to us, you can also use it to fund a life income plan such as a charitable gift annuity.