The holiday season is upon us, and this is a traditional time for multiple celebrations with family, friends and others that we care about, including favorite causes and charities like the Boys and Girls Club of East County Foundation.
Your gifts to the BGCEC will make a real difference to the boys and girls we serve.
Give wisely
Since 2025 presents both challenges and opportunities, make a list of the charities that you plan to support this year. Then consider some strategies that may help maximize the impact of your giving. Recent changes in the tax laws may influence your decision to make gifts that can be “itemized” as a charitable deduction this year. This strategy— often called “bunching” or “bundling” deductions— can potentially create tax savings greater than the standard deduction.
What to give this year?
Gifts of cash are popular and may be deductible up to 60% of your adjusted gross income. And next year, you can look forward to taking advantage of the new nonitemizer deduction that will be available to all taxpayers.
In addition to cash, a few options to consider include:
· Tax-free IRA qualified charitable distributions (IRA QCDs) for those over 70½.
· Gifts from your family foundation, donor advised fund (DAF) or perhaps a family business.
· Noncash gifts like stocks, bonds and other assets that have appreciated in value and have been held longer than one year. These gifts can qualify for a tax deduction and bypass any tax on the capital gain. In recent months, many stocks, gold, bitcoin and other assets have increased in value so they can make excellent gifts.
If you are drafting or updating your estate plans, consider including a provision to benefit the Boys and Girls Club in the future.
Timing your gifts for 2025
Don’t wait until the last minute. Gifts must be completed before the end of 2025. Some gifts may require several steps to complete in order to meet this deadline. Allow extra time for completing gifts of stock, IRA QCDs, DAFs, noncash gifts that may require qualified appraisals, title transfers or review by your personal advisors. Regardless of the size or form that your gifts may take, know that your generosity is appreciated by the boys and girls who we serve in our programs.
Contact Us
If you have already included us in your plans, please consider letting us know so we can thank and acknowledge you! Our Executive Director, Forrest Higgins, can be reached at 619-440-1600 or forrest@bgcec.org if you would like more information about leaving the BGCEC Foundation in your estate plans. Thank you!