Year-End Giving: A Special Way to Help the Guide Dog Foundation

When you make a year-end gift, in most cases the charitable gift is deemed completed when control over the asset has been transferred from you to the charity (in this case, the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind). For gifts of cash and securities, this means different things, depending on how the gift is transferred.

To gain the full 2008 tax advantage of your donation, here are some helpful tips to follow:

• If you are sending a gift by mail, the donation is effective on the date mailed as indicated by the postmark. If the envelope is postmarked by December 31, the gift is credited to 2008 even if it is physically received by the charity in the first week of 2009. The postmark is the key to your deduction, not the date on the check or the date a security certificate is signed over.
  
• If you are concerned that a gift being sent through the mail will not be received on time to use as a deduction on your tax return, you can physically bring the donation to the Guide Dog Foundation if you are a local donor. The day the gift is received at the charity is the effective date of that donation. (The Guide Dog Foundation’s street address is 371 East Jericho Turnpike, Smithtown, NY 11787.)
  
  

Many individuals donate securities and stocks at the end of the year, and most of these gifts are electronically transferred to the charity directly from the donor’s broker.

• For electronic transfers, the gift becomes effective the date the funds are reflected on the charity’s bank or brokerage account, not the date you instructed your bank or broker to make the transaction. Electronic transfers can be greatly affected by volume.
  
• As we get closer to December 31, it may take several days to move your gift from one account to another. Make sure you have given yourself sufficient time to make a gift of stock or securities.
  
  

For specific information on the tax benefits of donating cash, stocks or securities, contact your tax advisor or the Development Department of the Guide Dog Foundation (631-930-9050); we’ll be happy to give you more information on year-end giving. You can also read more about your planned giving opportunities at GuideDog.org/plannedgiving.