Charitable planning records and questions checklist

Contribution records

Contribution records support the claimed charitable gift. Required records depend on the contribution amount and whether the gift is cash, noncash property, or service expenses.

• Retain records supporting each charitable contribution.
• For contributed real or tangible personal property, record a description detailed enough for an unfamiliar person to identify the property.
• For an appraisal, record the appraiser's qualifications and the appraisal's preparation, signature, and date.
• Record whether the appraisal relates to an appraisal made no earlier than 60 days before the contribution.

Property and deduction details

The type of property affects how a charitable deduction is calculated. Ordinary income property and capital gain property have different general deduction descriptions.

• Record whether the contribution is ordinary income property or capital gain property.
• For ordinary income property, record its fair market value and the ordinary income or short-term capital gain that a sale at that value would produce.
• For capital gain property, record its fair market value and any listed exception that requires reducing that value by potential long-term capital gain.

Trust and estate documents

A trust document or will identifies whether a trust or estate can make charitable contributions. Assets passing by beneficiary designation, survivorship ownership, or transfer-on-death provision may pass directly without administration by a personal representative or trustee.

• Gather the trust document or will that governs a charitable contribution from a trust or estate.
• Record whether the document permits charitable contributions.
• Record any survivorship ownership or transfer-on-death provisions affecting those assets.

Gift terms and recipient records

Gift terms describe the recipient, purpose, and administration of a charitable arrangement. Some arrangements transfer control of contributed assets and access to principal.

• For a pooled income fund, gather its disclosure statement explaining its rules and provisions.
• Gather the pooled income fund trust agreement, investment policy, performance information, and fee information.
• Record whether the arrangement gives up access to principal and control over donated assets.
• For a charitable gift annuity agreement, record signatures from both the donor and the charity.
• Record a desired restriction on a charitable gift in writing.

Common questions