At the end of 2025, USPS published a new rule with significant implications on how the IRS allows us year-end gifts received by mail.

The most important thing you need to know is this: if your donors put a check in the mail on or after December 29, it may not be postmarked until the new year, which means that you cannot credit the donation in the year it was mailed. To err on the side of caution, I would recommend you handle all post-Christmas gifts in accordance with the new rules.

Here’s why: Postmarks are no longer affixed upon receipt of the mail at the local post office. They’re now consistently affixed at the regional processing center and it can sometimes take up to two days for your mail to make it from the local post office to the regional processing center. The IRS allows the postmark to “prove” the date of mailing, but the new rule clarifies the possibility that your donors may mail a check at the end of December that isn’t postmarked until January, which means that there is no longer proof that they sent their check in 2026. You’re now legally required to post that donation to 2027.

How can you make sure that your donor’s gifts are credited in the year they actually made them?

• Encourage folks to make post-Christmas gifts online. All online giving platforms timestamp gifts at the time they’re made, which is all the proof you need. 
• Encourage folks to drop off post-Christmas gifts to the church office.
• Let folks know that if they need to mail a post-Christmas gift, they should take it inside the post office to the mail counter and ask them to add a manual postmark at the counter.

Are there any exceptions? No. Sorry, we don’t get exceptions on IRS rules! Even for our best, most generous, most favorite church members of all time. You don’t make the rules. You just have to say no and blame it on the IRS

How do you communicate this? Here’s a sample announcement that you can run. I recommend running year-end giving announcements in your newsletters for November and December and in all communications in December.

If you’d like to make a year-end gift that will be reflected on your 2026 giving statement, please note the following deadlines, which may look different than they did before.

• December 31, 11:59pm for all gifts made electronically (insert link to your online giving here!)
• December 31, (latest someone will be at the church to accept in-person gifts) for all gifts made in the church office
• If you plan to mail a post-Christmas gift, take it inside the local post office and ask them to add a manual postmark at the counter before December 31 at 5pm. Without taking it inside, your gift will not be postmarked on the day you drop it in the mail and the IRS does not allow us to credit 2027 postmarks to 2026 giving statements.
• If you plan to make a non-cash year end gift, please reach out to the church office for specific deadlines.

For more info: check out this article from Philanthropy Advisory Council. It’s detailed, easy to understand, and has lots of info about non-cash gifts, as well. I am also available by call/text (720-506-4880) or email (laura@rmcucc.org), to help answer questions around these new rules.