Navigating RMDs, QCDs, and AGI

27 Jul Navigating RMDs, QCDs, and AGI

28 July 2026

By David Allen, Development for Conservation

The average age of a conservation donor is between 66 and 67. This isn’t a guess. I’ve been tracking data from land trust organizations all over the country for about ten years, and it’s been consistently in that range for at least that long.

To be sure, there are outliers. One land trust’s average age was 63 (and one other environmental organization’s average was even younger). And one land trust’s average age was 71.

But most are just north of 65. Yours probably is, too.

What this means is that your constituency is seriously considering retirement, navigating Medicare and social security, and worrying about required minimum distributions from their retirement accounts.

And if you’re smart, you’ll be talking to them about Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD).

The company FreeWill, which most of you will have heard of, just published a free primer on QCDs called Giving from IRAs. I’m not going to link to it here – you can contact them and get a copy just like I did – and thereby get on their mailing list. I’m not going to get in the way of that.

But I will encourage you to do so. It’s full of useful information you can actually use with your members and donors, and more than I expected was news to me.

I need to pause and state firmly that I am NEITHER an attorney nor a financial advisor. Nothing I write here should be construed as legal or financial advice.

OK – here’s what I learned:

• More and more donors are becoming aware that they can make charitable contributions directly from their retirement accounts and that doing so carries a bunch of financial benefits.
• The IRS requires anyone aged 73 and older to liquidate a portion of each of their retirement accounts, include what they liquidate as income that year, and pay income taxes accordingly. These are called Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs).
• Donors can give money to charity directly from a retirement account (or multiple accounts). Doing so qualifies as a minimum distribution, but does not count as income, and is therefore not taxed. These are Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs).
• Actually, donors can start giving money charitably from their retirement accounts as early as 70.5 years old. They don’t need to wait until they’re 73. Each person 70.5 years old or older can give up to $111,000 away each year. Starting early can reduce the amount they HAVE to withdraw after they are 73.
• For some donors, keeping the RMDs out of their annual income can prevent their social security benefits from being pushed into higher tax brackets and/or avoid Medicare premium surcharges.
• And it might allow some donors to deduct their gifts period. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) passed in July 2025, the first half a percent of someone’s Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) ($1,000 for a $200,000 AGI) is not tax deductible. Because QCDs never become part of the AGI, they are effectively deductible in full – even if the donor doesn’t itemize.
• The OBBB also introduced the Senior Tax Deduction ($6,000 per taxpayer, $12,000 for couples aged 65 and older) which is on top of the Standard Deduction. This means that even fewer seniors will be itemizing their taxes. Again, the QCD never counts as part of the AGI and serves as a tax break for their charitable gifts even if the donors don’t itemize.

OK – so that’s a lot. And there’s a lot more in the report. Some of that you probably already knew about QCDs. Maybe not all of it. But I guarantee that many of your donors don’t know all of it.

August is National Make-A-Will month and a great time to start talking about all things planned giving. Find an attorney or financial advisor who would be willing to be interviewed for your newsletter. Find a donor who has decided to make a QCD gift this year and have them provide a testimonial. (This would be a great way to use one of your Board members.)

Either way, most QCD gifts will get made in October, November, and December. Think about it and get started early. You might be surprised by some unexpectedly large gifts this Fall.

Did I mention that the average age of a conservation donor is between 66 and 67?

How are you talking to your donors about QCDs this year?

Cheers, and have a great week.

-da

PS: Your comments on these posts are welcomed and warmly requested. If you have not posted a comment before, or if you are using a new email address, please know that there may be a delay in seeing your posted comment. That’s my SPAM defense at work. I approve all comments as soon as I am able during the day.

Photo by Adina Voicu courtesy of Pixabay.