Gifts from Your Individual Retirement Account (IRA)

70.5 years or older? You can give a gift directly to the AHA from your IRA today.

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The Legacy IRA Act, as part of the SECURE Act 2.0 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act which passed in December 2023, creates new charitable gift planning opportunities for donors starting at age 70.5.

Gifts from your IRA (Qualified Charitable Distributions)

Donors 70.5 years and older who have a traditional IRA are eligible to make a tax-free donation directly from their IRA to the American Heart Association called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). Generally speaking, these gifts are tax-free and can be a smarter way to support AHA this year.

For those 72 and older, QCDs can count towards your required minimum distribution, allowing you to use your IRA to support heart healthy lives today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.

Thanks to the Legacy IRA Act, the annual qualified charitable distribution (QCD) limit of $100,000 is now indexed for direct gifts to charity. Individuals age 70½ or older are permitted to make distributions from their IRA directly to charity and avoid reporting of the income.

The American Heart Association works with FreeWill, making it easy for you to donate from your IRA.

Ready to get started?

Make a QCD Gift Online


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Make your QCD gift quickly and hassle-free by beginning your forms online.

Make your QCD gift online

Make a QCD Gift by Phone or Mail

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Answer a few questions to download the forms needed to complete your gift by mail or transact over the phone with your financial custodian.

Make your QCD gift over the phone or by mail

Already made a QCD gift and need a tax acknowledgment letter?

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If you’ve already made a QCD gift to the American Heart Association, we thank you for your support! If you have not yet received your tax acknowledgement letter, please report your gift details so that we can verify your gift and provide you with your letter.

Request tax acknowledgement letter

Learn more about Qualified Gift Distributions and why they are a great way to give.

If you have any further questions about the benefits of IRA giving, please email [email protected] or call 888-227-5242.

Donor Spotlight

11 years ago, Charles and Debbie Earl became proud grandparents of twin baby girls, Abby and Emmy. Abby was born healthy. Emmy was born with a hole in her thumb-sized heart. Just days old, she underwent her first heart surgery. Five months later, she needed another one. “We knew the road ahead of her was going to be a rough one,” said Debbie. That’s when the Earls, who had been making occasional donations to the American Heart Association since Charles had his own experience with heart disease and suffered a heart attack a few years prior, decided to make a more significant financial commitment to benefit people with heart disease.

Among other gifts, the Earls began making annual contributions through their retirement accounts. These annual qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) are tax-efficient, count towards their annual required minimum distribution. And because a QCD can be directed to a specific fund or purpose, it’s allowed the Earls to know their money is supporting research that could one day benefit Emmy and others with her condition. “We wanted to provide Emmy the best chance for survival, and in our mind, the best way to do that was to give to the American Heart Association for research specifically dedicated to pediatric cardiovascular health so she and others could benefit from it.”