Midyear Giving Checkup: Six Questions for July

The first half of the year is gone. The fireworks stands are going up, the calendar says July, and it is a perfect moment to take a fresh look at your giving.

That is exactly why midyear is a good time for a checkup. It is early enough to adjust calmly and late enough to see how the year is actually going. A short look now can save you a stressful scramble in December.

Why Midyear Works

In December, giving decisions compete with holiday travel, year-end deadlines, and a flood of appeals. Everything feels rushed. In July, the pressure is lower. You can think clearly, ask your CPA a question without a deadline looming, and make changes that have months to play out.

Farmers check their fields in midsummer for the same reason. There is still time to tend what is growing.

Six Questions to Ask

Set aside an hour. Grab your bank statements, your giving records, and your plan if you wrote one.

1. 1

   Where Do We Stand

   Add up what you have given so far. Compare it with what you hoped to give by now.

2. 2

   How Is Income Tracking

   Is the year stronger, weaker, or about what you expected? Giving plans often follow income.

3. 3

   Will We Itemize

   A rough estimate helps. For 2026, the standard deduction is $16,100 single and $32,200 married filing jointly.

4. 4

   What Has Grown

   Note any long-held investments that have appreciated. They may be worth discussing with your CPA before fall.

Two more questions round it out: Are our records in order? And is there a need we have been meaning to respond to? The first keeps April calm. The second keeps your heart open.

If You Are Behind

Maybe the first half of the year was harder than expected. Income dipped, a car died, a medical bill arrived. Giving slipped. That is not a moral failure. It is life.

Look honestly at what is realistic for the second half. You might catch up gradually, or you might adjust the plan downward and give with a clear conscience. Generosity is measured by willingness, not by hitting a target set in a different season.

If the Year Is Strong

If income is running ahead of expectations, midyear is the time to decide what to do with the difference, before it quietly gets absorbed into spending.

Some households raise their giving for the year. Others consider whether a larger gift this year makes sense if they itemize, perhaps using appreciated assets. Some look at tools like a donor-advised fund to give in a strong year and grant over time. All of those are questions for your CPA, and July is a far better time to ask than December.

• Gifts of appreciated stock can take days or weeks to complete. Plan them for early fall, not late December.
• For 2026, a 0.5%-of-AGI floor applies to itemized charitable gifts, and the value of the deduction is capped at 35% for the top bracket.
• Cash gifts to public charities are generally limited to 60% of AGI, and appreciated long-term stock to 30%, with a five-year carryforward.

One honest reminder: giving always costs you more than it saves. A deduction lowers your tax by a fraction of the gift, never the whole gift. Give because you want the money to do good, and let the tax rules make that generosity go further.

Tidy the Records Now

Midyear is also a good time to organize receipts. For gifts of $250 or more, you generally need a written acknowledgment from the charity, including a statement of whether you received anything in return. For noncash gifts over $500, Form 8283 generally comes into play, and gifts of property over $5,000 often need a qualified appraisal.

If any acknowledgments are missing from the first half, ask for them now. Charities are much easier to reach in July than in the last week of January.

A small habit helps: create one folder, paper or digital, and drop every acknowledgment into it the day it arrives.

Set the Next Checkpoint

Before you close the folder, put a date on the calendar for early October. That second look will be your last calm chance to make year-end decisions. Write down any questions for your CPA so they are ready.

Then enjoy the summer. A checkup is not meant to make giving feel like homework. It is meant to free you from worrying about it, so the second half of the year can be generous and unhurried.

If you share finances with a spouse, do the checkup together. Twenty minutes over coffee is usually enough. Couples who look at their giving together twice a year tend to disagree about it less, and to enjoy it more, than couples who leave it all to one person.