Charitable tax planning resources you need this year
Dec 01, 2022
Updated Nov 17, 2025
Charitable giving is a key piece of a holistic tax strategy. To help you with any conversations with your professional advisors, we’ve curated a list of our most popular resources and tips. This way, you can enter any advisory conversation or giving decisions with confidence.
Explore the available resources and strategies so that you’re on your way to maximizing your giving and minimizing your tax liability.
1. Tax savings calculator
One of the first steps in strategic charitable planning is understanding the potential tax savings from your donations. Our tax savings calculator is a useful tool designed to help you estimate the tax benefits of your charitable contributions. By inputting your income tax rate, filing status, and other itemized deductions, you can get a better picture of how your donations will affect your tax bill.
Before you finalize your giving plan this year, you need to make sure you’re giving enough to meet your tax savings goals with your advisor. This tool is a great step in making informed decisions and avoiding missing out on potential savings.
2. Charitable deductions guide
The IRS sets annual limits on the amount of charitable deductions you can claim, and understanding these limits is crucial for effective tax planning. If you want to make the most out of your planning and have informed conversations with your advisors, our charitable deductions guide provides a detailed overview of the maximum deductions you can claim this year.
For example, if you itemize your deductions, you can generally deduct up to 60% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) for cash donations to public charities. For donations of appreciated assets, the limit is typically 30% of your AGI. By staying within these limits, you can ensure that your contributions provide the maximum tax benefit.
3. Leverage the benefits of appreciated assets
If this is the first time you’re hearing about this charitable giving strategy, you might have been missing opportunities for more tax savings and greater impact. When you donate appreciated assets held for more than one year, like stocks or real estate, to a donor-advised fund (DAF), you receive an immediate tax deduction for the fair market value of the asset, while also reducing or even eliminating capital gains tax. This can be particularly beneficial if you have assets that have significantly increased in value over time.
But the benefits don’t end with your tax savings. Not only have you donated the full market value of the asset, but the assets in your DAF account are also invested and can grow tax-free. This means the same donated asset goes further and results in more charitable dollars.
4. Discover more charities for your generosity
For Vanguard Charitable donors, finding new charities to support is as simple as logging in to their online account and searching the charity database by charitable mission, region, and more. Vanguard Charitable does all the due diligence and gets grants out the door as recommended by our donors.
A DAF also allows donors to donate when it suits their financial plan and then recommend grants on a flexible timeline. With a DAF, you can cross “finding all the right charities for donations” off your ever-growing year-end checklist.
But if you haven’t yet created your Vanguard Charitable DAF account, we can still help you find a charity to support. Visit our Discover Charities page, where you can find resources for your search, lists of charities, and more.
Simplify your year-end planning with a donor-advised fund (DAF)
Charitable tax planning is a strategic way to support the causes you care about while optimizing your tax plan. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy.
That’s where we can help. With a Vanguard Charitable DAF, you can manage your charitable contributions more efficiently. You can donate a variety of assets to your account and then recommend grants to multiple charities over time. A DAF also simplifies your record-keeping while charitable assets can potentially grow over time, increasing the amount available for future donations.
Whether you’re a seasoned philanthropist or a first-time donor, consider enhancing your giving with these resources and using a DAF to make your giving tax-effective and impactful all year round.
