Congress on Friday passed a $1.8 trillion package of spending and tax cuts. Included, a tax provision that has allowed individuals aged 70½ and over to make contributions to charitable organizations from their IRAs without having to count it as income will be made permanent.

This marks a major change from past years when this tax “break” has been extended on an annual basis, often at year’s end. Previous timing had made it difficult to engage potential donors early about the use of IRAs for charitable contributions.

With this permanent extension, charitable organizations will not only be able to receive gifts from eligible donors for 2015 but, and maybe more importantly, charitable organizations can now make the IRA provision a significant part of future discussions with donors and potential donors.