There is no complete IRS guidance on this question. At worst, this analysis by Michael Kitces indicates that the check should be postmarked no later than 12/31 in order to be treated as constructively received by the charity. At best, the charity should have deposited the check before year end. See the following from the Kitces article:
“END OF YEAR DEADLINE FOR IRA CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONSIn order to receive favorable treatment for a QCD in the current tax year – including having the RMD satisfied for the current tax year, and falling under the current year’s maximum QCD contribution limit – the charity should ideally cash the QCD check by December 31st. In practice, this means beginning the process to complete the QCD by mid-December, as most IRA custodians will insist that the check be payable to the charity but still mail it to the IRA owner first (who must then forward it on to the charity); to get the check payable to and sent directly to the charity will in most cases require a Medallion guarantee (a similar but more stringent process than getting a signature notarized), which usually has to be mailed in once completed (creating even further delays).Notably, there is still some debate about what exactly constitutes a completed donation in the case of a QCD in order to meet the end-of-year deadline. Some have suggested that the charity merely needs to receive the check by December 31st – such that the charity is in constructive receipt of the distribution – even if the check isn’t cashed until after the end of the year. And Treasury Regulation 1.170A-1(b) stipulates that when a normal (non-IRA-related) check contribution is made to a charity, the date that the check is mailed is sufficient (even if not received by the charity until after the end of the year); in theory, this might be applied for a direct distribution of the charitable distribution from the IRA to the charity (if a Medallion signature is obtained) based on the date that the IRA custodian cuts the check.However, these interpretations have never been applied directly to evaluate the deadline for making an IRA charitable distribution, so ideally the check itself should be deposited by the charity by December 31st – and clearly shown as a completed distribution on the end-of-year IRA statement – to ensure credit in the proper tax year.”

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