how does a donor advised fund get entered into the charities section?

[steve-mack57]

particularly if only a portion of this year's donations will be applied to the current tax year

[MarilynG1]

To enter a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) donation in TurboTax, navigate to Federal > Deductions & Credits > Charitable Donations, select Yes to making donations, and choose "Stock" (if appreciated securities) or "Items" (if cash) to enter the details. 

Enter the DAF provider (e.g., Schwab, Fidelity) as the charity, with the donation date and fair market value. 

There may be additional questions on restrictions.

Here's more info on Donor Advised Fund charitable donations.

@steve-mack57 

[stilllearningtaxes]

We donated mutual fund shares to a DAF, so I entered "securities, other than stock".  There is no "Fair Market Value" option for either "stock" or "other than stock".  Another thread suggested we use "Average Share Price" is that correct?

What if I don't have the purchase price?  The fund just sent me a confirmation with the total value. I have owned the shares for more than a year.

Also wondering if what to select from uncommon situations (picture below) for the gift since we direct future charitable donations from this fund (is that a restriction?):

[RogerD1]

Yes, Securities, other than stock would be the correct selection.  And yes, average share price would be correct.

As far as the purchase price, did the custodian who transferred those shares for you give you a "basis" value for the shares that you donated?  If not, do you have an idea of the average share price of your purchases (those donated and those you did not donated) of those mutual fund shares?  You can use your average purchase price for all shares and multiply that by the number of shares donated to get at the purchase price.  You might also get the purchase price information by contacting the custodian of you mutual fund shares.

The uncommon situations would be for instances where you "attached strings" on how the charity could use your donation, such as stating they could only use the donation for certain things, or if you gave them the fund shares but retained the rights to voting of the shares, etc.  Are you directing the fund on when to release funds to the charity?  That would not be a restriction.  An example of a restriction might be if you donated to American Red Cross, but stated that your donation had to be used only for relief efforts in your state.  Clicking the ? icon by each of those uncommon situations will give you more examples of restrictions for the donations.

[stilllearningtaxes]

Thanks!  In the meantime I think I've found a cost basis for shares.  When I enter that, my deduction is reduced.  I believe that now it is saying this is a 30% donation rather than a 50% donation.  I know the residual can be carried over to 2026, do we have to itemize to get that credit in 2026?

Sadly, none of the additional information for the limitations really apply to Donor Advised Funds, so it is not that helpful.  Your explanation is and confirms I have not placed limitations.

[MarilynG1]

Yes, you would need to itemize in 2026 to utilize your charitable carryover that year; however, it can be carried over for five years for you to utilize in a future year.

@stilllearningtaxes