Claiming your DAF donation deduction

What tax receipts and records will I get?

Your DAF provider, not Frec, sends your tax receipt. Keep it with your Frec records of the shares you donated, since you’ll need both if you claim a deduction.

What you'll get and from whom

Document	From	What it shows
Donation receipt	Your DAF provider (for example, Daffy)	The date your DAF received the shares, a description of the shares, and confirmation that you received nothing in return. This is the written acknowledgment the IRS requires for gifts of $250 or more. It may not show the dollar value of your shares, so use your Frec records and the market value on the donation date when you file.
Account statement and transfer history	Frec	The shares that left your account, the date, and each lot's cost basis and holding period.

Filing your deduction

You need to itemize to deduct your donation. Deductions are also subject to AGI limits. See What are the 2026 AGI limits for charitable deductions?
Form 8283 is generally required when your total noncash charitable contributions for the year are more than $500. Publicly traded stock goes in Section A and doesn't need an appraisal.
Your deduction is generally the market value of the shares on the date your DAF receives them, if you held them for more than a year. For shares held a year or less, it’s generally limited to what you paid or their market value, whichever is lower.

Keep in mind

Keep your receipt and Frec statements together. If you're ever asked to support your deduction, you'll need both.
Find your Frec documents in Finding your account tax document(s).

What are the 2026 AGI limits for charitable deductions?

Gifts of appreciated stock to a DAF are generally deductible up to 30% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) each year. Anything over the limit can be carried forward and deducted over the next five years.

Deduction limits by type of gift

Gift to a DAF	Deduction amount	Annual limit
Stock held more than a year	Full market value	30% of AGI
Stock held a year or less	What you paid (cost basis) or market value, whichever is lower	50% of AGI
Cash	Amount given	60% of AGI

Unused deductions in any category carry forward for up to five years.

What's new in 2026

The 2025 tax law changed how charitable deductions work starting this year.
A 0.50% floor. If you itemize, you can deduct only the portion of your charitable gifts above 0.50% of your AGI.
A cap for the top bracket. If you’re in the 37% tax bracket, itemized deductions are worth at most 35 cents per dollar.
A deduction for non-itemizers that excludes DAFs. If you take the standard deduction, you can deduct up to $1,000 (single) or $2,000 (married filing jointly) of cash gifts to public charities. Contributions to DAFs don’t qualify.

Example

Your AGI is $300,000 and you donate $100,000 of stock you've held for several years.

Your limit for stock gifts is $300,000 × 30% = $90,000.
You can deduct up to $90,000 this year, and the remaining $10,000 carries forward for up to five years.
The 0.50% floor ($1,500 here) can lower these amounts slightly, depending on how it applies with your carryforward.

Keep in mind

You need to itemize to deduct your donation. If your total itemized deductions are less than the standard deduction, you won’t get a tax benefit from these limits. Some people combine several years of giving into one year, sometimes called bunching, so their deductions add up to more than the standard deduction. Read The investor’s guide to donor-advised funds.
Limits interact when you give several types of gifts in the same year, and the order they apply in can change your result.