Your donations info does not include how and where to send by check (not electronically) a contribution made through a person’s IRA. Please send information on how the check should be made out and where to mail the check.
For those younger than the RMD age: this is a way to not have to pay taxes on distribution to tax deductible IRA’s which ordinarily would be taxed by the IRS. By having check made out to a 501 (c) (3) organization, the federal income tax is waived on those donations.
For those at or over the RMD age, this is a win-win option and allows you to donate much more than you would normally to a charitable/educational organization. (You gain by your tax bracket times the amount of the contribution before taxes; if you don’t want to donate the tax savings, at least consider a 50/50 split.) You cannot do it via electronic contribution systems which many non-profits have (including inaturalist.): you need to inform the holder of your IRA how the check should be made out to and that check must be mailed to the recipient.
Please send info to my account message box. Posting on the forum seems to be the only way to contact you.
Inaturalist: you need to include this option on your donations section and indicate how the checks are to be made out by the institution holding the IRA and address where the check is to be sent.
Hi Marylyn! Thanks for raising awareness of this donation method. You can find that information on our Ways to Give page. For ease of reading, here’s the relevant content:
Are you at least 70 ½ years old? Do you have an Individual Retirement Account (Traditional IRA) in the United States? If you answered yes to both, Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) are the savviest way for you to maximize your charitable impact.
Please direct IRA distribution gifts directly from your account to:
iNaturalist
PO Box 150357
San Rafael, CA 94915-0357
iNaturalist’s EIN (Tax ID) is 92-1296468 (Note: this may temporarily appear as “Nature Connection Through Technology” but it is the correct organization)
Please be sure to include an email address or notify us via this form so that we can send a receipt for your gift. Please be sure to include an email address so that we can save stamp.
When you take a distribution from your IRA, it usually counts as income for tax purposes. QCDs, also called IRA Charitable Rollovers, are an exception. Individuals 70½ years of age or older can distribute up to $100,000 each year from their IRAs to their favorite qualifying 501(c)(3) organizations without the distribution counting as income.
IRS website has additional useful information on QCDs.
Note: The limit will increase by a percentage in 2024 to account for inflation.
Any donation-related questions can always be sent to donations@inaturalist.org. Thanks for your support!