Dear Liz: I read your column about qualified charitable distributions, where you can send a required minimum distribution to a charity so the RMD won’t be taxed. I have a donor-advised fund and would like to know if I can put my RMD into that, rather than send it directly to a charity. The funds in my donor-advised fund eventually get distributed to charities.
Answer: Sorry, but qualified charitable distributions can’t be made to a donor-advised fund. The RMD must go directly from your IRA to a qualifying charity to avoid taxation.
To recap, QCDs are available to people 70½ who can contribute IRA funds to charity (up to $111,000 in 2026). The distribution is not included in the donor’s taxable income and can count toward any required minimum distributions.