I hope anyone doesn't think I donated to NPR bc of a free cd. That's ridiculous. The cd was $10. I donated substantially more than that bc I support what NPR does.
V, what are your thoughts about donating to an alma mater? The benefit of your education occurred in the past. Team charity or museum?
Edit oops didn't see your previous post. Ignore. Or expand if you wish
I do selfishly donate to both my undergrads' endowment AND Athletic department bc I want the school to get better. We're a state school that is woefully underfunded from the state and lots of alumni give shit. But with enough money, there is no reason we can't be a top public university like Michigan, Berkeley or UCLA. The way things are going, we are on our way. And football is our path to greatness, so making the football team a perennial winner is the strongest way to get interest and donations to strengthen the school academically. I expect perception alone to increase when we are in the Big Ten in 2014.
Still a charity my money is used, in part, to give scholarships (need based, academic and athletic). The university conducts research that saves lives and improves the quality of lives, among a million other things.
I hope anyone doesn't think I donated to NPR bc of a free cd. That's ridiculous. The cd was $10. I donated substantially more than that bc I support what NPR does.
Did someone say that? Obviously you wouldn't give (say) $100 to an organization solely to get a $10 CD. Or at least, I can't imagine that many CDs are THAT worth it.
But if I gave $100 because I wanted that CD, and also I listen to NPR every day and (say) NPR expends $30 a year on each daily listener, if I was the daily listener giving $100 to NPR, I'd consider $40 of that donation to be for me, and $60 to be the charitable part.
But really, (a) you shouldn't care all that much how I think of things in my head, or (b) what anyone else thinks or doesn't think about your charitable donations.
I hope anyone doesn't think I donated to NPR bc of a free cd. That's ridiculous. The cd was $10. I donated substantially more than that bc I support what NPR does.
Did someone say that? Obviously you wouldn't give (say) $100 to an organization solely to get a $10 CD. Or at least, I can't imagine that many CDs are THAT worth it.
But if I gave $100 because I wanted that CD, and also I listen to NPR every day and (say) NPR expends $30 a year on each daily listener, if I was the daily listener giving $100 to NPR, I'd consider $40 of that donation to be for me, and $60 to be the charitable part.
But really, (a) you shouldn't care all that much how I think of things in my head, or (b) what anyone else thinks or doesn't think about your charitable donations.
Not you, another poster.
I'm not going to lie, I was planning on getting the cd anyway and planning on making a donation anyway, but I made the donation WHEN I did to get the cd. But since the IRS lets me deduct my whole donation, I am, even if I got something free that I would have otherwise paid iTunes.
Did someone say that? Obviously you wouldn't give (say) $100 to an organization solely to get a $10 CD. Or at least, I can't imagine that many CDs are THAT worth it.
But if I gave $100 because I wanted that CD, and also I listen to NPR every day and (say) NPR expends $30 a year on each daily listener, if I was the daily listener giving $100 to NPR, I'd consider $40 of that donation to be for me, and $60 to be the charitable part.
But really, (a) you shouldn't care all that much how I think of things in my head, or (b) what anyone else thinks or doesn't think about your charitable donations.
Not you, another poster.
I'm not going to lie, I was planning on getting the cd anyway and planning on making a donation anyway, but I made the donation WHEN I did to get the cd. But since the IRS lets me deduct my whole donation, I am, even if I got something free that I would have otherwise paid for on iTunes.
Post by iheartvino on Dec 22, 2012 10:03:16 GMT -5
Cosmo, I didn't mean that you do donate just to get the cd. I don't think anybody does or would. I think some of the conversation based off the free cd missed the point and people started talking about deductions and gifts, rather than the fact that you benefit from NPR, just like a church donation you would benefit from. It was just worded wrong.
Well I'll put it out there, our charitable giving $ wise, such as writing a check, is minimal right now. We donate a lot, esp to Habitat from our remodels and I also volunteer a lot through my sorority alum group.
I'll sit here with you. We don't give a lot of money at this time but I do a lot of pro bono work and otherwise give of my time.
I think people should give what they are comfortable with. Right now giving a lot of money to charities is not in our financial picture but in a few years it will be and we will absolutely give then.
I try very hard not to judge how anyone spends their own money that they have earned unless I know their full financial picture.
Post by LoveTrains on Dec 22, 2012 10:13:54 GMT -5
Ok just ignore my drunken ramblings from last night. In no way, shape or form do they even resemble a coherent thought.
I think where I was going on the "tax loophole" thing was the pressure lately to limit deductions. There has been some chatter about either a) reducing the charitable deduction by limiting total deductions to a total percentage of your AGI or b) reducing total deductions to a straight number, whether it be $25K or $50K or what have you.
I am firmly against limiting charitable deductions because I am convinced - solely anecdotally - that it will have a huge impact on my work.
I guess what I was trying to get at is that the IRS considers all gifts to 501(c)3 organizations to be tax deductible. You can consider your donations whatever you want, but I am nervous about people categorizing some charity or philanthropy as better or more charitable than other kinds. I don't care how you think about it in your head, but I think we start down a slippery slope if you think giving to an HIV/AIDS organization is more charitable than giving to NPR or your alma mater or a museum. In all cases, those organizations would not exist without philanthropic support, regardless of if you personally receive a benefit. And all of these organizations probably provide some sort of enhancement or benefit to society/this country as a whole.
My point is, you should expect a service back from whatever nonprofit you donate to. If not right now, then in case of X. I donate to our church and the food pantry out of it, because who knows when I'll need it?
That is not true at all.
I do expect services out of museums that I join (that's precisely WHY I join), and I do receive services from my alma maters (and alum donations could in theory improve the schools and therefore strengthen their value on my resume), but the animal shelter in Boston that we donate to on a monthly basis? Since I do not plan to ever live in Boston (and have spent approximately 24 hours of my life in that city), I do not expect to receive services in exchange, ever. I just like what they do. The money we gave this year to charities helping hurricane victims? I do not expect anything from them, ever. When I have clothes to donate, we give them to an organization that runs thrift shops that benefit people with HIV/AIDS. I sure as hell hope to never receive any benefit from that. And there are many, many examples of other charities that people give to with no expectation of anything other than warm and fuzzy feelings in return.
I just think it is a slippery slope when you start looking at charities in terms of intention for future use/enjoyment.
We donate to the animal shelter we got our animals from and that we use to get reduced shots. Part of our intention is to help animals, but part is to ensure that there will be a shelter for future animals for us to adopt.
I can see pp (and yours to an extent) point of separating out direct social services from health/cultural/religious/education nonprofits, but the more institutional nonprofits do direct social services in many cases, so it is hard to really separate the two, in my opinion.
I would hope that the govt wouldn't change their definition of charitable giving for tax purposes, though. My nonprofit does some direct social service, but some not. Our positive economic impact is huge in our communities and prevent more people from needing direct social services.
Post by LoveTrains on Dec 22, 2012 10:21:06 GMT -5
v, FYI re the Met, admission is actually FREE. The entrance fee is a "suggested fee" but that they don't actually publicize that. But if you get up to the admission desk and say you want to pay $1 for entrance or don't want to pay anything at all, they will still let you in.
I am sure there are plenty of better sources on this, but really, it is free if you can't don't want to pay.
Also, the value of "token items" this year is $9.70. That means that a charity can give you an item worth up to $9.70 as a gift for making a donation. So in rissa's case, she gives NRP $100 and they can give her an item worth up to $9.70 and she can deduct $100. If the gift is worht more than $9.70, the charity must receipt it as such. So if the CD was worth $10, the receipt would say thank you for your gift of $100, the tax deductible portion of your gift was $90."
v, FYI re the Met, admission is actually FREE. The entrance fee is a "suggested fee" but that they don't actually publicize that. But if you get up to the admission desk and say you want to pay $1 for entrance or don't want to pay anything at all, they will still let you in.
I am sure there are plenty of better sources on this, but really, it is free if you can't don't want to pay.
Also, the value of "token items" this year is $9.70. That means that a charity can give you an item worth up to $9.70 as a gift for making a donation. So in rissa's case, she gives NRP $100 and they can give her an item worth up to $9.70 and she can deduct $100. If the gift is worht more than $9.70, the charity must receipt it as such. So if the CD was worth $10, the receipt would say thank you for your gift of $100, the tax deductible portion of your gift was $90."
Do they use retail or wholesale costs? I was using $10 as an example, but the cd is actually 12.99 on itunes. All I know is my thank you letter said the full amount.
Knowing Bruce Springsteen, I wouldn't be surprised if his camp gave the CDs to NPR for free but I have no idea if he did or not.
Cosmo, I didn't mean that you do donate just to get the cd. I don't think anybody does or would. I think some of the conversation based off the free cd missed the point and people started talking about deductions and gifts, rather than the fact that you benefit from NPR, just like a church donation you would benefit from. It was just worded wrong.
Post by LoveTrains on Dec 22, 2012 10:32:27 GMT -5
cosmos, it would be the wholesale cost. Those cds probably cost $2 to make, which is why it qualifies.
If you give at the higher levels or get a higher membership, you will see that your tax deduction is reduced. Any museum membership that is over $75 has to start deducting the price of the benefits from the tax deduction, but admission is always a "free" benefit that doesn't have a value.
You can read through IRS publication 526 if you want to learn more.
The other thing is that there are a lot of smaller non-profits that bend the rules on the value of the donor gifts. When I worked in higher ed we used to give a pint glass to members of the senior class that made a gift of at least $10, and then give them the full deduction. I didn't realize it at the time b/c it was my first job in philanthropy, but that is actually totally against the IRS rules. If the IRS found out that we were doing that, the university could be in trouble of losing its 501(c)3 status.