Qualified Charitable Distributions

What are the IRA charitable rollover rules?

Here's how a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) works:

• You must be 70-1/2 or older at the time of gifting your IRA to charity. 
• You may distribute an amount, up to $100,000 in a calendar year, to one or more public charities, so long as it is completed by December 31 of that year. 
• Your IRA administrator must make the distribution directly to the charity, or you may write a check to the charity from your IRA checkbook. Funds that are withdrawn by you and then contributed do not qualify. 

Benefits of making an IRA gift

QCDs count toward your required minimum distribution for the year. If you have to take your required minimum distribution but you don't want or need the funds, QCDs are a good way to distribute the amount out of the IRA. As an added benefit, you'll avoid paying income tax on your gross income up to $100,000.

Are there any QCD restrictions?

Per IRS regulations, QCDs cannot be made to a donor advised fund (DAF), charitable remainder trust, or charitable gift annuity. A QCD can be made to your sponsoring 501(c)(3) organization if there are programs that you can fund outside of your DAF. Such purposes include general support for the charity or for other programs they may maintain outside of their role as a DAF sponsor. 

For additional information on QCDs and DAFs, please contact your charitable sponsor. 

How to make an IRA qualified charitable distribution

Here are the steps to take to make a gift from your IRA:

• Contact your IRA administrator and instruct that person to transfer funds to the charity you designate.
• Help us credit your gift and thank you by having your IRA administrator include your full name and mailing address on the gift. Also, have your administrator note that the transfer is an IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution. We do not encourage restricted gifts. 

If you'd like to make a QCD gift, your financial institution should make the check out to "Doctors Without Borders" and identify you as the donor by name and address. 

They can mail the check to:

Doctors Without Borders USA
P.O. Box 5030
Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030

If your financial institution cannot include your full name and address with the check, please complete the form below so that we can identify your donation when it arrives.