Make a Meaningful Local Gift Directly from Your IRA
If you are age 70½ or older, a Qualified Charitable Distribution, commonly called a QCD, may offer a tax-smart way to support East Tennessee PBS and the community we serve.
A QCD allows eligible donors to make a gift directly from an Individual Retirement Account to a qualified charitable organization. Because the funds go directly to the charity, the eligible amount generally does not become part of the donor’s taxable income.
Your gift to East Tennessee PBS stays local, helping provide trusted educational programs, lifelong learning resources, health and wellness information, workforce development initiatives, and stories celebrating the life, history, and heritage of East Tennessee.
How a QCD May Benefit You
A QCD may help you:
- Support East Tennessee PBS with funds you have already saved in your IRA
- Satisfy all or part of your annual required minimum distribution, if one applies to you
- Exclude the eligible distribution from your taxable income
- Receive a potential tax benefit even if you do not itemize deductions
- Make a greater charitable impact without using funds from your everyday budget
- Because a QCD is generally excluded from taxable income, the same gift cannot also be claimed as a charitable income-tax deduction.
A Simple Example
Suppose you plan to withdraw $5,000 from your IRA and then make a $5,000 charitable gift from your personal bank account. The IRA withdrawal would generally become part of your taxable income.
If you qualify and instead direct the $5,000 from your IRA to East Tennessee PBS as a QCD, the gift may count toward your required minimum distribution while the eligible amount is excluded from your taxable income.
The result is the same generous $5,000 investment in your community, made in a way that may work better for you.
How to Make Your Gift
Ask Your IRA Custodian to Send the Gift
Contact the financial institution that manages your IRA and request a Qualified Charitable Distribution payable directly to:
East Tennessee Public Communications Corp.
DBA East Tennessee PBS
1611 East Magnolia Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37917
EIN: 62-1173293
Please ask your custodian to include your name and contact information with the payment. IRA checks sometimes arrive without enough information for us to identify the donor and properly acknowledge the gift.
Use Your IRA Check Information Online
If your IRA custodian has provided checks connected directly to your IRA for charitable distributions, you may be able to make your gift through our online DONATION page:
Select the ACH or Electronic Check payment option.
Enter the routing and account information printed on your IRA/QCD account check.
Complete the requested donor and gift information.
In the comments or notes field, identify the payment as a Qualified Charitable Distribution.
Please do not use information from an ordinary personal checking account if you intend the gift to qualify as a QCD. Before using the online ACH option, confirm with your IRA custodian that an electronic payment made with your IRA check information will be sent directly from your IRA and properly treated as a Qualified Charitable Distribution.
Timing Matters
To count for a particular tax year, the charitable organization must receive the QCD by the applicable year-end deadline. Financial institutions may need additional processing time, especially late in the year. Beginning the process early can help ensure that your gift arrives on time.
Your Support Stays Local
Thank you for considering a gift to East Tennessee PBS. Supporting East Tennessee PBS means supporting the people and communities of East Tennessee.
You may also designate your gift for a program, project, or area of our mission that is especially meaningful to you. If you have questions about your donation and its purpose, want to learn more about the work your gift can support, or need information to share with your IRA custodian, please contact me. I would be grateful for the opportunity to help.
Barbara Shipley
Chief Development Officer
East Tennessee Public Communications Corp.
DBA East Tennessee PBS
1611 East Magnolia Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37917
Phone: 865-595-0244
Email: bshipley@easttennesseepbs.org
EIN: 62-1173293