What You Need to Know About Making a Qualified Charitable Distribution to Thrive
Designating your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) to a charity is done through a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). This allows you to transfer money directly from your IRA to an eligible charity without counting the amount as taxable income.
Key Rules & Requirements
Age Requirement
You must be at least 70½ to make a QCD, even though RMDs generally begin at 73. This age requirement is strict. You must be 70½ on, or before, the exact date the distribution is made. Turning 70½ later in the year is not enough.
Eligible Accounts
QCDs can be made from Traditional IRAs, Rollover IRAs, Inherited IRAs, and inactive SEP or SIMPLE IRAs.
(Note: Funds in an employer-sponsored 401(k) or 403(b) cannot be used directly; they must first be rolled over into a Traditional IRA.)
(Additional Note: You can make a QCD from a Roth IRA however doing so is rarely advantageous or recommended for the individual. Please direct any questions about a QCD from a Roth IRA directly to your financial advisor.)
Direct Transfer is Mandatory
The check or wire transfer must go directly from your IRA custodian (your bank or brokerage) to the charity. Some institutions may mail the check to you to give to the charity. If this is the case the check MUST be made payable to the charity. If the money is withdrawn and sent to you, AND made payable to you, first, it becomes taxable income and cannot be changed into a QCD.
Annual Limits
The IRS limits total QCDs per individual per year. For instance, for the 2026 tax year, you can donate up to $111,000 per individual. (The amount is indexed each year, please verify the most up-to-date information with your IRA custodian or your tax/financial advisor.) You can donate up to this limit even if it exceeds your actual RMD amount.
Eligible Charities
The recipient must be a qualified 501(c)(3) public charity. Thrive IS a qualified 501(c)(3)! Donor-advised funds (DAFs), private foundations, and supporting organizations do not qualify for QCDs.
No Double Tax Deduction
Because the QCD amount is excluded from your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), you cannot also claim it as an itemized charitable deduction.
What You Need to Do
Verify the Charity
Your custodian will ask for the following information about Thrive:
Thrive's Charitable Information
Contact Your Custodian
Call or log into your IRA provider and request a QCD form or a direct distribution to the charity.
Let Thrive Know
Checks from IRA custodians often arrive with little or no information about the donor. When you request your QCD, please contact Juliet Sharrow at juliet@thrivepa.org or 717-640-2951 to let us know the amount, the name of your custodian, and whether the gift is for the Thrive Center capital campaign or a payment toward your campaign pledge. This allows us to credit your gift correctly and send your acknowledgement promptly.
Complete Before Year-End
Ensure the transaction is processed and cleared by December 31 to count toward the tax year's RMD. If you are using a checkbook IRA, the check must be cashed by the charity within the calendar year, not just written or mailed.
The First-Dollars-Out Rule
If you take a taxable distribution from your IRA earlier in the year before doing a QCD, that withdrawal counts toward your RMD first and cannot be retroactively replaced or offset by a later QCD.
Save Your Receipts
Get and keep written acknowledgment/receipts from the charity for your records. Your custodian will report the distribution on Form 1099-R, and you or your tax preparer will note the QCD portion on your tax return.
Proper Documentation
To properly document a QCD for your tax records, you need specific records from both the charity and your financial institution. This information is vital for proper reporting on your federal income tax return.
From Thrive
Thrive will provide a written acknowledgement for your donation.
The receipt will explicitly state that no goods or services were received in exchange for your contribution.
From Your Custodian
Proof that the funds moved directly from your IRA administrator to Thrive. This can be a copy of the check made payable directly to Thrive or a trustee-to-trustee confirmation from your custodian.
Your custodian will issue a Form 1099-R showing the gross distribution. Note that custodians do not use a special code to mark the distribution as a QCD (Code Y is optional), so the exclusion is handled on your tax return.
Official Sources
The rules summarized above come from the following IRS sources. Your financial advisor or tax professional can use them to confirm the details that apply to you.
- Internal Revenue Service, Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs (see the questions on qualified charitable distributions).
- Internal Revenue Service, Publication 590-B, Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (section on Qualified Charitable Distributions; updated each year).
- Internal Revenue Code Section 408(d)(8) , Distributions for charitable purposes (the federal law that establishes QCDs).
PLEASE NOTE: This information has been compiled in October 2026. Every effort has been made to ensure this information is complete. However, laws, rules, and regulations change. As such, it is the sole responsibility of the individual to ensure they are following all requirements. Please consult your financial planner/advisor or a certified tax professional.