IRA Qualified Charitable Distributions, also referred to as Charitable IRA Rollovers or IRA QCDs, are a way to support the Sierra Club Foundation as a qualifying charity without incurring federal income tax liability. If you are 70 ½ or older, you can give up to $100,000 in tax-free charitable distributions annually from your IRA directly to the Sierra Club Foundation, and if you are age 72 or older, it can help you to meet your minimum distribution requirement.
Please note that the Sierra Club, as a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, is not eligible to receive IRA charitable rollovers. Confirm with your IRA custodian that your IRA charitable rollover is made payable directly to the Sierra Club Foundation as the qualifying 501(c)(3) public charity.
How To Make a Gift:
To make a gift from your IRA to the Sierra Club Foundation, contact your IRA administrator to arrange a direct transfer from your account. You can download a sample letter to your IRA administrator here. We strongly recommend you instruct your broker to include your name and address with the check. Your IRA administrator can send the funds by a check made payable to the Sierra Club Foundation and mailed to:
Sierra Club Foundation
2101 Webster Street, Suite 1250
Oakland, CA 94612
To be tax-free, the donation must go directly from your IRA account to the Sierra Club Foundation without passing through your hands. Don’t deposit the distribution into your personal bank account or it will not qualify as a charitable distribution and will be treated as taxable.
To Qualify:
- You must be 70 ½ years or older when the gift is transferred.
- You may transfer up to a maximum of $100,000 to qualified charities per year. Gifts must be made by December 31 of each year.
- If you are a joint tax filer, your spouse can also give $100,000 per year if he or she is over 70 ½ and has an IRA.
- This only applies to eligible individual retirement accounts and does not apply to group plans, 401(k) plans, or 403(b) plans.
Additional Considerations:
- Certain states may not exclude gift amounts withdrawn from an IRA for state income tax purposes.
- If you reach the age of 70½ on or before Dec. 31, 2019, you can use your gift to satisfy all or part of your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year. If you turn 70½ on or after Jan. 1, 2020, you can use your gift to satisfy all or part of your required minimum distribution starting at the age of 72.
The Sierra Club Foundation does not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult your own professional tax or legal advisor before making any charitable gift decision based on this information.
For more information, please contact the Donor Concierge team in the Sierra Club’s Office of Advancement:
AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NV, OH, TN, WV, WI
Cory TenBrink
Email: cory.tenbrink@sierraclub.org
Call or text: 541-227-4294
CT, DC, DE, ME, MD, MA, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, SC, VT, VA
Robert Kowsaluk
Email: robert.kowsaluk@sierraclub.org
Call or text: 323-388-6626
AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, KS, MT, NE, NM, ND, OK, OR, PR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY
Michael Ahn
Email: michael.ahn@sierraclub.org
Call or text: 818-590-6618