Turn Your IRA Into a Lifeline for Maine's Wild Birds
If you're 70½ or older and have a Traditional IRA, there's a giving strategy worth knowing about — one that can support Avian Haven's work while easing your tax burden. It's called a Qualified Charitable Distribution, or QCD.
What is a QCD?
A QCD lets you transfer funds directly from your IRA to a qualified nonprofit like Avian Haven — without that money ever counting as taxable income to you. For 2026, you can give up to $111,000 this way.
Why does it matter?
Normally, when you withdraw money from your IRA, it's taxed as ordinary income — even if you turn around and donate it. A QCD sidesteps that. Because the funds go straight from your IRA custodian to Avian Haven, the distribution is excluded from your adjusted gross income entirely.
That matters even if you don't itemize deductions, since a QCD provides its tax benefit automatically, without needing to claim a charitable deduction at all.
How can it help you?
Lowers your taxable income — which can also help keep you in a lower tax bracket and may reduce Medicare premium surcharges tied to income.
Counts toward your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) — if you're at the age where the IRS requires you to withdraw from your IRA each year, a QCD can satisfy that requirement.
Simplifies giving — one call to your IRA custodian, and the gift is made.
How can it help Avian Haven?
Gifts like these allow us to respond immediately when a call comes in about an injured loon, an orphaned owlet, or a hawk struck by a car — providing the constant attention throughout the day that recovery requires, for the 180+ species we care for each year.
Ready to make a QCD? Here's exactly what to do:
Call your IRA custodian (the bank or brokerage that holds your IRA — e.g., Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, Edward Jones, etc).
Tell them you'd like to make a "Qualified Charitable Distribution" (QCD) directly from your IRA to a charity. This is a specific, named transaction — using that exact term helps make sure it's processed correctly and reported properly on your 1099-R.
Give them Avian Haven's information:
Legal name: Avian Haven
Address: 418 N. Palermo Rd., Freedom, ME 04941
EIN: 01-0529491
Tell them how much you'd like to give
Ask them to send the funds directly to Avian Haven — either by check made out to Avian Haven, or by electronic transfer. (For a QCD to qualify, the funds must go straight from your IRA to us — they can't pass through your hands first.)
Let us know it's coming. Custodian checks sometimes arrive without your name attached, so a quick email or call to us ensures you're properly thanked and credited — and that we can confirm the gift for your tax records.
That's it — most custodians can process this over the phone or through their online portal in a single session, though the actual transfer may take a few days to a few weeks depending on their internal timelines.
Questions? We're happy to help:
Paula Crossfield, Director of Communications and Development
📧 paula@avianhaven.org | 📞 917-297-9458
🗓️ Schedule a call: calendly.com/paula-avianhaven/30min
