Key takeaways
- A charitable contribution sent by check through the U.S. Mail is made on the day it is mailed, as long as the check clears (26 CFR 1.170A-1(b); IRS Publication 526). A check postmarked December 31 that arrives in January counts for the year that ended.
- Each payment method has its own date. A card gift counts on the day of the charge, and a stock transfer counts on the day the shares settle in your brokerage account (IRS Publication 526; PG Calc).
- The mailbox rule covers only the U.S. Mail. A check sent by FedEx or UPS usually counts on the day it arrives, because the carrier acts for the sender (Adler & Colvin).
- Since December 24, 2025, USPS rules say a postmark shows the Postal Service had the mail on that date, which may be later than the day it was mailed. A hand-stamped postmark at a post office counter costs nothing extra and records the drop-off date.
- Development and finance often report different December totals because they count the same gifts by different dates. Two fixes close most of the gap: one written dating policy, and one January list of every gift with a December gift date and a January received or deposit date.
The mailbox rule says a charitable contribution sent by check through the U.S. Mail is made on the day the donor mails it. Arrival and deposit dates do not decide the tax year. The rule comes from the Treasury regulation on when a contribution is made, 26 CFR 1.170A-1(b), and IRS Publication 526 repeats it. So a check postmarked December 31 that arrives on January 4 is a gift in the year that just ended.
What is the mailbox rule?
The mailbox rule is the tax rule that a check mailed to a charity counts as a gift on the day it goes into the U.S. Mail. Under the Treasury regulation, the mailing must be unconditional and the check must clear in due course. A check that bounces was never a gift, whatever its postmark says.
Section 7502 of the tax code is also called a mailbox rule. It counts a required tax return or payment as on time when its U.S. postmark meets the deadline. A gift is not a required filing. The contribution regulation applies, and the postmark is your evidence of the mailing day.
Which date counts for each type of gift?
A gift is made when the donor gives up control of the money or property (Jones & Roth CPAs). A mailed check counts on the day it is mailed, and a card gift on the day of the charge. A stock transfer counts when the shares settle in your brokerage account, and a FedEx envelope when it reaches you.
| Gift | The gift date is | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Check sent by U.S. Mail | The day it is mailed. The postmark is the usual evidence. | IRS Pub. 526; 26 CFR 1.170A-1(b) |
| Check or cash handed to your staff | The day you receive it, or the date written on the check if that is later | Jones & Roth CPAs; PG Calc |
| Check sent by FedEx, UPS, or a courier | Usually the day it arrives at your office | Adler & Colvin; Jones & Roth CPAs |
| Credit card gift, online or by phone | The day of the charge | IRS Pub. 526 |
| Text gift billed to a phone account | The day the donor sends the text | IRS Pub. 526 |
| Payment from the donor’s bank pay-by-phone account | The day the bank pays you | IRS Pub. 526 |
| Wire transfer | The day the money settles in your account | PG Calc |
| Stock moved electronically | The day the shares settle in your brokerage account | PG Calc |
| Endorsed stock certificate mailed to you | The day it is mailed, if it arrives in the normal course of the mail | 26 CFR 1.170A-1(b) |
| Pledge payment | The day each payment is made. The pledge itself is not deductible. | 26 U.S.C. 170(a)(1); IRS Pub. 526 |
| Qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from an IRA | The day the IRA custodian makes the distribution. For a check from an IRA checkbook, the day it clears. | PG Calc |
| Grant from a donor-advised fund | It sets no tax date for the donor, whose deduction came when they funded the account. Date it by your normal policy. | AFP |
Sources: IRS Publication 526, 26 CFR 1.170A-1(b), 26 U.S.C. 170(a)(1), Adler & Colvin, Jones & Roth CPAs, PG Calc, AFP. This is general information, not tax advice.
A check date never moves a gift earlier. A check dated December 31 in an envelope postmarked January 2 goes on your records as a January gift. A postdated check counts no sooner than the date written on it.
Card gifts have their own trap: time zones. If your giving platform exports timestamps in UTC, a gift made at 9 p.m. Eastern on December 31 shows up dated January 1.
Does a check postmarked December 31 still count?
Yes. A check mailed by December 31 counts for that year even if it arrives in January, and a December 31 postmark proves it was mailed in time. The harder case is a check mailed on December 31 with a January 2 postmark. The tax rule looks to the mailing day, but your team can see only the postmark.
That case is now more likely. Since December 24, 2025, section 608.11 of the USPS Domestic Mail Manual says a postmark shows the Postal Service had the mail on that date, which may be later than the day it took the mail in. Postmarking practices have not changed, and neither has the IRS rule for gifts.
Donors who mail late in December can ask for a hand-stamped postmark at a post office counter, which costs nothing extra, or buy a Certificate of Mailing. Both fixes are in the rule. Put them in your December appeals and on your giving page.
AFP expects more donor tax questions this year. Under IRS Publication 505, non-itemizers can deduct up to $1,000 in cash gifts to eligible charities from 2026 ($2,000 on a joint return), and itemizers can deduct only gifts above 0.5% of adjusted gross income. Our post on the 2026 small-dollar giving reset covers both.
What date should the receipt show?
Show the dates you know, and leave the tax year to the donor. Adler & Colvin, a nonprofit law firm, advises charities to state only dates they know firsthand, such as the day a check arrived or shares reached the brokerage account. For a late check, you can name both dates: “postmarked December 31, 2026, received January 4, 2027.”
A donor who claims a cash gift of any size needs a bank record or a written receipt that names your organization and shows the date and amount (IRS Publication 526). For a single gift of $250 or more, the acknowledgment must also say whether you gave anything in return and, if you did, describe it with a good-faith estimate of its value. It describes donated property, such as stock, without valuing it. A payment over $75 that is partly for goods or services, such as a gala ticket, also needs a written statement of the deductible amount (IRS Publication 1771).
Why do development and finance totals disagree in January?
Because the two teams count the same gifts by different dates, and usually both are right. Development dates a gift by its postmark or charge date. Finance often books it in the month it arrives or is deposited, depending on its policy and accounting standards (AFP). The gaps come from four places.
- A check postmarked December 31 is a December gift for development and may be a January entry for finance.
- An unconditional pledge you receive in December is December revenue under FASB ASC 958-605, but the donor’s tax statement counts only payments.
- A card gift is dated by its charge, and the processor’s deposit can land in January.
- With a June 30 fiscal year-end, you answer the dating question twice: in January for donor statements and in July for the audit.
Write one dating policy that both teams sign, and keep each date in its own field. Then review one January list, the extra cutoff review that CLA recommends: every gift with a December gift date and a January received or deposit date. For month-end work, see our post on matching deposits to gifts.
The January review is simpler when both teams work from one record. In Ignite Finance, part of StratusLIVE’s Ignite platform, every gift carries a donation date, which receipts and year-end statements show, and a separate accounting date, which sets the fiscal period. Gifts post in batches, and nothing posts into a closed period. When a donor-advised fund sends a grant, Ignite records the fund as the payor and credits the donor who recommended it. Ignite also checks that the GL extract balances before your accounting system imports it.
A year-end gift dating checklist
- Write the dating policy before December, with one gift date for each row of the table, and have finance sign it. For payment types the IRS does not address, such as ACH debits and payment apps, pick one date and use it all year.
- Publish your cutoffs in your year-end fundraising emails and on your giving page. Name the time zone for online gifts, and suggest a counter postmark for mail.
- Set an early-December deadline for stock. PG Calc warns that most mutual fund gifts are too late by the second week of December.
- Keep every envelope that arrives from the last week of December to mid-January, or ask your lockbox provider to image full envelopes.
- Date each mailed check by its postmark, or by the date written on it if that is later. Never date it by the deposit.
- Review one January list: every gift with a December gift date and a January received or deposit date.
- Send acknowledgments by January 31, the typical date in IRS Publication 1771. Donors need them before they file. They also start your stewardship plan.
Frequently asked questions
Does a check postmarked December 31 count for this tax year?
Yes. A check sent by U.S. Mail is a gift on the day it is mailed, even if it reaches the charity in January, as long as it clears (26 CFR 1.170A-1(b)). The postmark is the usual evidence (Jones & Roth CPAs). A check dated December 31 in an envelope postmarked January 2 is dated in the new year on your records, because the postmark is the date you can prove. Keep the envelope with the gift record.
What is the new mailbox rule?
There is no new IRS rule. The change is a Postal Service rule. Since December 24, 2025, section 608.11 of the USPS Domestic Mail Manual says a postmark confirms the Postal Service had the mail on that date, and that the date may be later than the day it was mailed. The IRS rule for gifts still looks to the day of mailing. Donors who mail near the deadline can ask for a hand-stamped postmark at a post office counter, at no extra cost, or buy a Certificate of Mailing.
When does an online donation made by credit card count?
On the day of the charge. IRS Publication 526 says gifts charged to a credit card are deductible in the year of the charge, so the day the donor pays the card bill does not matter. Text gifts billed to a phone count on the day the text is sent. State your online deadline and its time zone on the giving page, and record the charge date, not the day your processor deposits the money.
When is a gift of stock complete?
For an electronic transfer, on the day the shares settle in your brokerage account, not the day the donor asks a broker to send them (PG Calc). An endorsed certificate mailed to you counts on the day it is mailed, if it arrives in the normal course of the mail. If the donor gives the certificate to their own broker or to the issuing company for transfer, the gift is complete when the company's books show the transfer (26 CFR 1.170A-1(b)). When a certificate and a signed stock power arrive separately, PG Calc dates the gift to the later one.
Do donor-advised fund grants need a tax receipt?
Not for the donor. Their tax benefit came when they put assets into the donor-advised fund, and the fund's sponsor acknowledged that contribution. When the grant arrives, thank the donor for recommending it and say what it will fund, without tax language (AFP, 2026). Record the sponsor as the payor and credit the donor who recommended the grant, so it shows in their giving history.
Do QCD checks have to be cashed by December 31?
It depends on who writes the check. When the IRA custodian issues the check to your organization, the gift date is usually the day the custodian makes the distribution. When the donor writes the check from an IRA checkbook, the distribution happens when the check clears, so deposit those checks fast in late December (PG Calc, 2026). A QCD still needs the standard acknowledgment, and AFP recommends wording that names it as a qualified charitable distribution.
Is a pledge made in December deductible that year?
No. A donor deducts a contribution in the year they pay it (26 U.S.C. 170(a)(1)), and a promissory note is not a contribution until the donor makes the payments (IRS Publication 526). Your books may still record an unconditional pledge as revenue in the period you receive it, under FASB ASC 958-605. That is one reason pledge revenue on your books and the totals on donor tax statements differ.
Does a donation sent by FedEx count on the day it ships?
Usually not. Adler & Colvin treats a private carrier as acting for the sender, so the gift counts on the day it arrives at your office, and Jones & Roth CPAs reach the same result. PG Calc notes that some lawyers argue the other way, and it advises following your own counsel and using one practice all year. For a gift that must count this year, tell donors to use the U.S. Mail or give online.