Here is some information from Kiplinger.com on making charitable donations from an IRA:
People older than 70-and-a-half can make a donation from their traditional IRAs to charity, which can count toward their required minimum distribution but is not taxable if they follow the rules for a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). This doesn’t apply to a Roth IRA, which has tax-free withdrawals and no required distributions. The gift stays out of the donor’s adjusted gross income only if they make a direct transfer from their IRA to the charity. It doesn’t count as a tax-free transfer if the money is withdrawn first and then a donation made to the charity. Anyone interested in making a charitable donation from an IRA should ask the IRA administrator what steps are to be taken because the procedures can vary from firm to firm.