Charitable Giving Strategies for 2026

For Cleveland Clinic’s charitable giving partners, every major piece of legislation creates both complexity and opportunity. For example, last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) introduced significant tax changes, including important implications for charitable planning.

For many business owners, executives and high-net-worth families, charitable planning is about more than generosity – it works to structure gifts to support the causes they care about while remaining tax efficient.

In this Q&A, Stacey McKinley, Esq., Director of Gift Planning at Cleveland Clinic Philanthropy, and Jim Lineweaver, CFP^®, AIF^®, founder of Lineweaver Wealth Advisors, discuss some advantageous charitable giving strategies that can help make a bigger difference in today’s tax climate.

Stacey McKinley: How are you helping clients navigate market volatility right now?

Jim Lineweaver: Volatility is not new. What makes 2026 different is the combination of market volatility and structural tax changes under OBBBA.

For executives, physicians and business owners, charitable planning can no longer be a year-end afterthought. It needs to be coordinated with income timing, liquidity events, and concentrated positions. Our role is to help clients stay disciplined and make decisions based on strategy rather than headlines.

SM: What did the One Big Beautiful Bill change for charitable giving?

JL: Beginning in 2026, two changes materially affect high-income donors who itemize. First, the first 0.5% of adjusted gross income given to charity is no longer deductible. Second, for taxpayers in the top bracket, the value of itemized deductions is effectively capped at 35% rather than 37%.

As a result, spreading gifts evenly year after year may be less tax-efficient than coordinating giving around higher-income years.

SM: What strategies are becoming more relevant because of these changes?

JL: One is concentrated giving, often called bunching. Instead of making similar annual gifts, some households are consolidating multiple years of charitable intent into a single year to exceed the adjusted gross income (AGI) floor more efficiently, offset high-income years and lock in a deduction. Cleveland Clinic donors who have entered into multi-year pledges may want to consider accelerating those gifts.

SM: Why might Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) be even more valuable now?

JL: Because QCDs are not itemized deductions. They are income exclusions. A QCD transfers funds directly from an IRA to a qualified charity, and the distribution is excluded from taxable income.

That means it can satisfy required minimum distributions and is not subject to either the 0.5% AGI floor or the top-bracket deduction limitation. The 2026 QCD limit is $111,000 per taxpayer. While RMDs begin at age 73, QCDs can begin at age 70½, creating a valuable planning window.

Plus, QCDs are outright gifts to Cleveland Clinic that, when included with an estate gift, can boost the impact of a donor’s charitable giving.

SM: How does OBBBA affect donor-advised funds and charitable trusts?

JL: The law did not change how donor-advised funds or charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) function, but it did change the deduction landscape around them.

For many donors, Donor-Advised Funds (DAF) remain efficient because they offer flexibility, simplicity, and the ability to concentrate giving in high-income years. CRTs still allow donors to contribute appreciated assets, receive lifetime income, and direct the remainder to charity. While the deduction is subject to the new rules, the broader value of a CRT is often the ability to diversify appreciated assets, spread income over time, and support charitable goals within one plan.

For clients who want a simpler structure and predictable lifetime income, charitable gift annuities may also be worth considering.

SM: What is the central planning theme in 2026 that donors to Cleveland Clinic should keep in mind?

JL: Timing. Adjusted gross income now plays a more direct role in charitable deduction efficiency. Giving decisions should be coordinated with equity compensation events, Roth conversions, business sales, retirement transitions, and concentrated stock positions.

Charitable planning in 2026 is no longer just about generosity. It is about aligning giving with income timing, recent tax law changes, and broader retirement and estate planning goals.