The Community Foundation is informing donors and nonprofits about recent changes to USPS rules for postmarks that could affect year-end giving. If you are making a charitable donation in the last few days of 2025, there are several ways to ensure your gift counts toward your 2025 income tax deduction.
What’s New
As of Dec. 24, 2025, the U.S. Postal Service has changed the way it postmarks mail, which has long served as proof of the date a gift was mailed. Following a new rule, the postmark will be applied at a regional processing center rather than at the location of dropoff, meaning it is no longer a reliable indicator of the mailing date. As a result, the new rule could affect whether mailed end-of-year gifts qualify for a 2025 income tax deduction.
What to Do
If you mail a year-end gift, please consider the following methods recommended by the USPS and shared by the National Society of Tax Professionals:
- Request a Manual Postmark: Customers may present a mail piece at a retail counter and request a “manual (local) postmark”. This postmark is applied at the time of acceptance, so the date aligns with the date the USPS took possession.
- Postage Validation Imprint (PVI): When a customer pays for postage at a retail counter, the PVI label applied by the employee also indicates the date of acceptance.
- Certificates of Mailing: Customers may purchase a Certificate of Mailing, or use Registered or Certified Mail, to obtain a receipt that serves as evidence of the date the item was presented for mailing.
Please note: Checks sent via carriers such as FedEx, UPS and DHL must be physically received at The Community Foundation on or before December 31, 2025.
Other Ways to Give
Another option to ensure year-end gifts count toward your 2025 income tax deduction is to avoid the mail altogether.
Here are some additional ways we can help you with your gifts:
- Our staff is standing by to take gifts via phone and wire transfer any time before 4 PM on Dec. 31, 2025.
- You may donate online via credit card any time before midnight on Dec. 31.
- You may drop off a check at our office between the hours of 8:30 AM and 5 PM on Monday, Dec. 29, Tuesday, Dec. 30, or Wednesday, Dec. 31.
Please reach out to us at (904) 356-4483 if we can assist you with your charitable giving.