Donor-Advised Funds

Even if you do not know which specific charity you would like to donate to, you can still get a charitable deduction to file on your April 2012 tax return. You can put your money into a donor-advised fund by December 31, 2011 and decide where you want the money to go later. The minimum required to set up a fund is usually $5,000 and the community foundation or the brokerage affiliate will invest and administer your money for an annual fee.

It is more beneficial to be generous now than later, because people are still concerned that charitable gifts will not be so deductible in the future. So if you have charitable intentions, now is the time to either donate those funds to a specific charity or do a donor-advised fund.

See Ashlea Ebeling, Why To Give Generously Before December 31, Forbes, Dec. 17, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this article to my attention.