Treasurer’s Two Cents | May 2026
By Chris Andrysiak, Treasurer

This is the second edition of the revived “Treasurer’s Two Cents” column; last month I wrote about ways to give to our church that minimize fees paid to financial institutions, as well as tax-efficient ways to give, such as Qualified Charitable Distributions from an IRA or donating appreciated securities.  You can find that column here: Treasurer’s Two Cents | April 2026.

Since many parishioners are deciding how much, and how, to contribute to the Opening Doors campaign, I am continuing with the theme of tax-efficient giving (if you don’t know, my professional work is as a financial planner and investment advisor).

The Opening Doors campaign provides donors an opportunity to spread their gift over as many as five years.  This can be helpful for those that are paying their gift out of annual cashflow – a salary or Social Security, for instance.  Paying the full gift (for many this is five to ten times the annual stewardship gift) in one year would strain cashflow too much to make a sizable gift.  However, many people will make their gift out of their savings, and for them, they could consider if they need to spread the gift over multiple years or instead pay it all up front.

It often makes sense from a tax perspective to pay it all at once.  Here is why (and admittedly, what follows gets a little technical – if this topic makes your eyes glaze, just skip to the final three paragraphs).
The tax code offers two paths for “deductions” from income:

• The standard deduction ($16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly with an additional deduction for those 65+ if below certain income levels)
• Itemized deductions, which is where the taxpayer lists their deductions (including charitable donations), which can serve to reduce their taxable income

Typically, one will select the path that leads to a higher total deduction.  For some people that wish to itemize, there is a gap between what they pay in state and local taxes (often the largest deduction) and the point at which it makes sense to itemize.  The first portion of a charitable donation is used to fill that gap, with the result that only the gift amount that takes total deductions above the standard deduction amount ends up being deductible. Spreading out a gift over multiple years can mean that more of the gift is used to fill that gap each year and less actually functions as a deduction from taxable income.  By contrast, making the gift all in one year means that only a small portion is used to fill the gap and more of it actually reduces taxable income.

In addition, charitable contributions are only deductible in amounts that exceed 0.5% of Adjusted Gross Income, providing further reason to put the gift all in one year so that more of the gift is deductible.

In summary, more of your gift will be tax-deductible if you make the gift all in one year.  This logic does not apply if you are making your contribution from a Donor-Advised Fund or as Qualified Charitable Distribution from your IRA.  But if you are donating appreciated securities or making a cash gift from savings, it can often be more tax efficient to make your full gift all in one year.  You may wish to speak with your accountant or financial advisor about your circumstances.

Finally, it will be most helpful to First Parish to receive gifts upfront.  If many parishioners delay payment, the church will either need to delay the project (watching construction costs go up), or we will need to borrow money (which will increase project costs) until the multi-year gifts arrive.

The Opening Doors campaign provides us an opportunity to not only restock our capital fund (which we must do every 10-15 years to pay for future building repairs), but also to transform our Parish House in a way that will help us more fully live out our mission and live by our values.  We all are finding ways to stretch to give as much as we can – doing so in a tax-efficient manner can help maximize the amount we can contribute. Please contact me with questions (chris.andrysiak@gmail.com).