New Postal Rule Could Impact Year-End Giving
New Postal Rule Could Impact Year-End Giving
This note below is from the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines:
Effective December 24, 2025, the United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmarks and Postal Possession rule clarifies how postmarks are applied, which may affect how the timing of mailed charitable gifts is determined.
Under this rule, machine-applied postmarks are now generated at regional USPS processing centers rather than at a local post office. Historically, a postmark served as proof of when a gift was mailed. With this change, the postmark date may be applied several days after mail is dropped off locally and is no longer a reliable indicator of the mailing date.
As a result, this change could affect whether certain mailed gifts qualify for a 2025 income tax deduction.
To help ensure timely end-of-year giving, donors are encouraged to visit a USPS counter and request one of the following:
A Postage Validation Imprint (PVI)
A Manual Postmark
A Certificate of Mailing, Registered Mail or Certified Mail
Please note that self-service kiosks and third-party mailing services do not guarantee compliance for charitable contributions.