The tax ID for donations to Dartmouth College is 02-0222111, and the legal name the IRS has on file is the Trustees of Dartmouth College, not “Dartmouth College” or “Dartmouth College Fund.”1Dartmouth College. Office of Sponsored Projects Institutional Profile Use both the EIN and that full legal name anywhere a form, tax return, or matching-gift portal asks who received your contribution. A mismatch between what you report and what Dartmouth files with the IRS can trigger correspondence or slow your return.
Confirming Dartmouth’s 501(c)(3) Status
Dartmouth is recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which is why contributions are generally deductible under IRC Section 170.2Internal Revenue Service. Exemption Requirements – 501(c)(3) Organizations3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts You can verify the status yourself through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search at apps.irs.gov. Searching “Trustees of Dartmouth College” will return the listing, the EIN, and the date the exemption was recognized. If an organization’s exemption has been revoked, the IRS will disallow the deduction and you could owe interest on the underpaid tax.
Records You Need to Keep
The paperwork the IRS expects scales with the size and type of the gift.
- Cash gifts under $250: a bank record, cancelled check, or credit card statement showing amount, date, and recipient is enough.
- Any gift of $250 or more, cash or property: get a written acknowledgment from Dartmouth before you file. It must state the cash amount or describe the property, and say whether Dartmouth provided any goods or services in return.4Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Contributions – Written Acknowledgments
- Non-cash property over $500: file Form 8283 with your return.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8283
- Non-cash property over $5,000: get a qualified appraisal and complete Section B of Form 8283.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8283
Keep supporting documents for at least three years from the date you file the return that claims the deduction.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 305, Recordkeeping
Gifts Where You Get Something Back
When Dartmouth provides goods or services in return for your payment (an event ticket, a dinner, a commemorative item), only the amount above the fair market value of what you received is deductible. For any payment over $75 in that category, Dartmouth must give you a written disclosure estimating that value.8Internal Revenue Service. Charitable Contributions – Quid Pro Quo Contributions Pay $500 for a fundraising dinner valued at $150, and your deduction is $350.
Donor-Advised Fund Grants
If you recommend a grant to Dartmouth from a donor-advised fund at Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, or a similar sponsor, you already took the deduction when you funded the DAF. The grant reaching Dartmouth is not separately deductible, and any acknowledgment from the college should say so.
What You Can Actually Deduct in 2026
Cash gifts to a public charity like Dartmouth are deductible up to 60% of your adjusted gross income.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts Gifts of appreciated property held longer than a year are capped at 30% of AGI.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526 – Charitable Contributions Anything above the cap carries forward for up to five years.
All of that only matters if you itemize. For 2026 the standard deduction is $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, and $24,150 for heads of household.10Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Unless your charitable gifts plus mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and other Schedule A items clear that number, itemizing costs you money. Some donors respond by “bunching”: concentrating two or three years of giving into one year to clear the threshold, then taking the standard deduction in the off years.
Starting in 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act adds an above-the-line deduction for non-itemizers of up to $1,000 in cash gifts to qualifying public charities ($2,000 for joint filers). The same law introduces a 0.5% AGI floor for itemized charitable deductions, so only the portion of your giving that exceeds 0.5% of AGI is deductible on Schedule A. For someone earning $200,000, that means the first $1,000 of itemized charitable contributions produces no tax benefit.
Filing the Deduction
Claim the deduction on Form 1040 with Schedule A attached, entering your contributions on the lines for gifts to charity.11Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 506, Charitable Contributions Non-cash property totaling more than $500 also requires Form 8283.12Internal Revenue Service. Form 8283 – Noncash Charitable Contributions Tax software will prompt you for Dartmouth’s EIN (02-0222111) and legal name (Trustees of Dartmouth College). If you file on paper, confirm every schedule is attached before mailing.
Tax-Smart Gift Structures
Appreciated Stock
Donating publicly traded securities held more than a year directly to Dartmouth is often the most efficient way to give. You deduct the fair market value on the date of the gift, and neither you nor Dartmouth pays capital gains tax on the built-in appreciation. Buy stock for $10,000, watch it grow to $50,000, donate the shares, and you get a $50,000 deduction (subject to the 30% AGI cap) with no capital gains liability. Sell first and donate the cash, and you owe tax on $40,000 of gain for no additional deduction.
Qualified Charitable Distributions From an IRA
If you are 70½ or older, you can transfer up to $111,000 directly from a traditional IRA to Dartmouth in 2026 without counting the distribution as taxable income.13Internal Revenue Service. Notice 25-67 – 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs The qualified charitable distribution counts toward your required minimum distribution if you are of RMD age. You do not also claim a charitable deduction; the benefit is the income exclusion. For donors who cannot itemize, a QCD is often better than writing a check.
Appraisals for Non-Cash Gifts Over $5,000
Artwork, real estate, vehicles, collectibles, and other non-cash property valued above $5,000 require a qualified appraisal from a qualified appraiser.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8283 The appraiser must have documented education and experience with the specific type of property and cannot be the donor, the recipient, or someone related to either. You complete Section B of Form 8283 and attach the appraisal summary. Skipping the appraisal on property that requires one means losing the deduction entirely.
Publicly traded securities are the exception. No appraisal is needed regardless of value; fair market value is the average of the high and low trading prices on the date of the gift.
Year-End Timing
A gift must be delivered by December 31 to count for the current tax year. For checks sent by U.S. mail, the mailbox rule generally treats the gift as made on the postmark date. USPS processing sometimes lags by a day or two, so if you are close to the deadline, take the envelope to the counter and request a hand-stamped postmark, certified mail receipt, or certificate of mailing. A postage meter stamp is not a postmark.
Credit card gifts are dated when the charge posts, not when you pay the bill. Stock transfers are dated when the shares arrive in Dartmouth’s brokerage account, which can take several business days, so start the process early in December.
Volunteer Expenses
Volunteering for Dartmouth doesn’t produce a deduction for the value of your time, but unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses tied to the volunteer work do. Driving is deductible at the charitable mileage rate of 14 cents per mile for 2026, a statutory rate that doesn’t move with fuel prices.14Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile, Up 2.5 Cents Parking, tolls, and supplies you bought for the event are deductible too, as long as you kept receipts and were not reimbursed.