This week’s discussion of the importance of Pledging will be a tad mechanical in nature as we examine two aspects of the Pledge that contribute to Christ Church Anglican being able to accomplish its ministry objectives. I write this as one who refrained from making an annual pledge until a few years ago.
The first is tied to a parable addressing discipleship by Jesus, where he teaches the prudence of planning before acting through a metaphor of counting the costs before embarking on constructing a building. He teaches that one needs to understand the costs of the endeavor so that resources are available to ensure completion of the building.
The pledges of the congregation, made in faith, do just that for our Rector and Vestry in that they provide the vote of confidence by the congregation for our leadership to plan and execute on our ministry initiatives on day one of 2026. Just as we individually make our pledges in faith, our leadership then acts in faith on the aggregate pledges to plan a budget and to monitor that budget throughout the year, as ministry occurs both on and off our campus.
Your individual pledge becomes a critical tool for leadership to use to ensure our congregation accomplishes our mission. I can assure you that as a member of the Finance Committee, the pledges received in the fall remove a significant unknown as we budget offerings for the new year. Budgeted offerings that then become the basis for the provision of ministries offered by Christ Church Anglican.
The second mechanical aspect is addressed to those in our congregation who have achieved the grand age of 70 1/2 years. There is a tax adage that states, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but not a penny more.”
Within the tax code, there is a provision entitled Qualified Charitable Deduction, or QCD. This provision is one of the most significant tax savings provisions in the Code for seniors. QCD allows for the use of traditional IRA monies for funding charitable contributions, e.g., the fulfillment of your pledge to Christ Church Anglican, while avoiding any taxes on the amounts withdrawn from your account for that purpose.
Working with your IRA Administrator, you may direct a withdrawal from your account, up to $108,000 a year, with the Administrator transmitting the monies directly to the charitable organization of your choice. The key provisions of QCD then allow the monies so withdrawn to count toward your annual Required Minimum Distributions, RMD, if applicable, with the benefit of avoiding any taxes on the amounts so withdrawn. Further, the use of QCDs has no impact on the standard deduction allowed on Schedule A. Bottom line, depending on your tax bracket, using a QCD as a tool for charitable contributions will save you in cash 10-20% of your total charitable contributions, including fulfilling of your CCA pledge.
For any senior over 70 1/2 years old who has an IRA and does not use the provisions of a QCD to make their annual charitable contributions, they are potentially giving to Caesar far more than legally required.
As a member of the Finance Committee, I would like to commend the generosity of the congregation of Christ Church Anglican. Thank you as you contemplate your 2026 pledge.
The information provided here is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Regarding the QCD code section, please consult with your financial and tax advisor before executing any transactions.