How to Give Charitable Donations as Gifts

When George Costanza, the popular but self-serving character from Seinfeld, decided to give "charitable donations" to everyone on his gift list, he fabricated "The Human Fund" and passed out letters that he had created which indicated that a donation had been made on their behalf. This is not the way to go about giving charitable donations as gifts. The steps below detail the correct way to go about giving charitable donations as gifts.

Step 1: Conduct plenty of research. If you have a cause that you are passionate about and you know of several organizations that support that cause, research each organization thoroughly. Determine how the organization uses the funds that are donated to them. Investigate their status as a non-profit organization, including the length of time they have had that status and explore their credibility as a charitable organization.

Step 2: Determine how much money you plan to donate. Think about your gift recipients. Which of the recipients on your list will you make a donation on behalf of? Will you make one total donation, or several small ones? Make those decisions before you contact the organization.

Step 3: Contact the organization that you’ve decided to donate to. Ask them what their policy is on making donations on the behalf of other people. Most non-profit organizations have a system in place for donations given on behalf of others. Does this particular organization send out a letter or card or some small token to the people on your list or are you responsible for that task? It is much more authentic if the organization sends out this type of correspondence to the gift recipient. Typically, non-profits will write a letter on letterhead stating the charitable donation amount, the uses the money will go towards and the positive impact the donation has had on their organization.

Step 4: Ask the organization for receipt of the donation so that you may receive a tax deduction for the charitable contribution. According to kiplingers.com, "You can deduct cash contributions to qualifying charities. These include churches, synagogues, other religious organizations, educational organizations and nonprofit organizations such as the Salvation Army, Red Cross, CARE, Goodwill. You need a receipt or bank record (such as a cancelled check) for all contributions."

Step 5: Keep good records. You’ll want to file away receipts or cancelled checks in a place where they can be easily retrieved when it comes to filing your taxes for the year. Although the tax deduction should not be your primary motivation for giving charitable donations, it is a nice perk.

Step 6: Feel good about the gift you’ve given. It seems as though lately gift giving has become too much about material possessions and too little about the pure act of giving. Know that the people who receive your gift may for one fleeting moment think about George Constanza and his "Human Fund", but ultimately they will feel warmed by the impact "their" donation has made; and so should you.

This article was provided by the authors at AnotherPerfectGift.com - visit this site for more unique gift ideas.