Make your gift by December 31 >>
Want to make a gift that counts toward the 2025 tax year? Here are the deadlines:
- Online: The quickest and most secure way to make a gift to Northwestern is via our online giving pages. To make a gift online, use the online giving form. All online gifts must be made by 11:45 p.m. CST on Wednesday, December 31, 2025.
- By mail: To make a gift by mail, send a check to:
Northwestern UniversityChecks sent through the US Postal Service must be dated and postmarked by December 31, 2025. Checks sent via FedEx or UPS must be received by 3 p.m. CST on Tuesday, December 30, 2025.
Alumni Relations and Development
Gift and Record Services
1201 Davis Street
Evanston, IL
60208-4410
If you have any questions about year-end gifts, contact us by phone at 800-222-5603 or by email at giving@northwestern.edu. Please leave a message and your call will be returned within 24 hours except for weekends and December 31, when calls will be returned until 3 p.m. CST.
Employer Matching Gifts
Matching gifts can increase your gift by a ratio of 1:1, 2:1, or even 3:1. Visit the matching gift database to find out if your company has a program.
Gifts of Stock or Mutual Fund Shares
Gifts of stock or mutual funds—including appreciated and depreciated securities—are an excellent way to make a significant contribution to Northwestern while taking advantage of tax benefits. NOTE: The last day for Northwestern University to receive gifts of stock or mutual funds for the 2024 tax year is Monday, December 30, 2024, the last business day of the year. Learn more about giving securities or stocks.
- Appreciated securities: You are entitled to a charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the stock or mutual fund shares you give to Northwestern. If you have owned the securities for more than one year, you can avoid capital gains tax on the appreciated value.
- Depreciated securities: Such stocks or shares in a mutual fund may also be used to fund a charitable gift, but it may make more tax sense for you to sell securities that have lost value, realize a capital loss for tax purposes, and then donate the cash proceeds to Northwestern.
While banks recommended that donors make gifts of securities no later than Friday, December 20, 2024, to ensure receipt by the end of the calendar year, please speak to your broker to ensure delivery on or before December 30, 2024. Gifts of stock received by Northwestern on or before December 30 will be receipted as a 2024 gift. Please contact Catherine Eliasik, director of Gift and Record Services, so she can anticipate the transfer; email her at giftupdate@northwestern.edu.
Gift Planning
Deadlines for making planned gifts in 2024 vary, so contact the Office of Gift Planning directly by phone at 800-826-6709, email us at giftplanning@northwestern.edu, or visit our website for more information.
- Charitable Gift Annuities: If you are interested in earning an income for life, you can begin to receive quarterly payments at age 60 with the remainder passing to Northwestern at the end of your lifetime.
- Charitable Remainder Trusts: Similar to charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts allow you or someone you designate to receive an income for life with the remainder passing to Northwestern.
- IRA Charitable Rollover: If you are 70½ years old or older, you may transfer up to $100,000 per person ($200,000 per couple) per calendar year to Northwestern. This transfer must be made directly to the University, and may come from a traditional or Roth IRA. The transfer is excluded from the IRA owner’s adjust gross income, a major tax benefit for those who don’t need the income. We must receive your gift by December 31 for it to qualify this year. If you have check-writing privileges on your IRA, please mail your check by December 15 to ensure it is processed by year’s end.
- Bequests: If you have included Northwestern in your estate plan—or plan to do so—please contact our office at giftplanning@northwestern.edu. There is no tax deadline associated with this type of gift.