Its better to give than to receive, but its not impossible to do both. By donating cash or non-cash items to a  qualified non-profit, you may receive a very nice tax deduction.   75% of the $307 billion dollars donated in 2007 was from individuals motivated to give back to their communities.  Claims from charitable donations were the third largest deductions claimed, after taxes paid and mortgage interest claims. 

There are several very important things you need to know about donating both cash and non-cash items before you do so. 

l        Itemize all your donations in order to get your deduction.  Fill out form 1040 Schedule A to turn in to the IRS.  The exception to this would be people who don't own a house.  For most people, their standard deduction far exceeds any deduction they would get from claiming and itemizing charitable donations ($5,450-singles, $10,900-joint).

l        Donate to qualified non-profit organizations. Not every organization that is exempt from U.S. Income tax will qualify for tax-deductible charitable contributions (i.e. A foreign government).

■         To find a list of qualified non-profits, check the IRS database in publications 78 and 526.

l        If you donate more than 50% of your adjusted gross income, you can only claim up to 50%. However, the rest can carry over for up to five years.

l        Get a receipt.

■         If you donate non-cash items worth less than $250 make sure your receipt has the groups name, the date and place of the donation, and contains a detailed description of the donated items.

■         For non-cash donations worth more than $500, Form 8283 will be required with your 1040. 

■         Non-cash items over $5,000 in worth need a written appraisal of its value no more than 60 days before the actual donation, as well as section B of form 8283 filled out.  Both the appraiser and the non-profit must sign the appraisal.

■         Cash donations of more than $250 mus have a written acknowledgment from the non-profit. If you do not have one and you get audited, you will NOT receive your deduction, no matter how much personal info you may have obtained.

■         For all cash donations, note the amount of the donation, and for all non-cash donations, note the fair market value of the item by checking similar items at thrift stores.

l        Non-cash charitable donations much be in good condition to receive a deduction.  Don't donate junk that no-one can use. Clothes and household items such as furniture, electronics, and appliances especially must be in good condition.

l        If you receive goods or services in return for your donation, you must subtract the difference from the amount you claim on your tax return.  For instance, if you donate $200 to a non-profit but receive a $10 mug, you can only claim $190.

l        For vehicles, your deduction will depend on how the vehicle is used.  If the non-profit sells it, you may only deduct the sale price.  If they keep it, the fair market value may be deducted.

■         The non-profit you donate your vehicle to must fill out form 1098-C and give a copy both to you and to the IRS.

l        You can deduct $0.14 per mile for any volunteer driving you may do, such as delivering clothing or food.

l        You will not receive a deduction for services for which you volunteer.  There is a perfect place to discover the benefits of giving without expecting anything in return.

Timeshares are marketed as the most commonsense and practical way to vacation.  Salespeople proclaim it as an investment in all your future vacations. That may be true under certain circumstances, but for someone who doesn't know exactly what they are getting into, timeshares may become more of a financial burden than investment. Get your money out of your timeshare by using it every year. 

Timeshare salespeople will tell you that purchasing a timeshare will save you money in the long run and you will be able to vacation places that normal circumstances would deem impossible.  Realistically, most people simply break even, and pay for their vacations in advance via the timeshare. When you pay for a timeshare, you are purchasing a space of time (usually a week) in a specific location every year indefinitely. You pay an upfront fee and then an annual fee for maintenance and various other upkeep fees.  While the initial price is set for the entire time you own the timeshare, fees are mandatory and may be increased at the resorts discretion.

So, if you paid $20,000 in upfront costs for your timeshare, and you stayed there every year for the next twenty years, you would be paying $1,000 a vacation, not including fees. This is great, especially if you normally spend more than that paying for hotel rooms and such. This also works well for people who enjoy vacationing in the same area ever year.  The problem happens when timeshare owner begin missing years.  Suddenly the yearly estimate for your $20,000 piece of property jumps to $1200 or $1800 a year, again not including fees. 

In the long run, timeshares can  be a good investment.  But before you buy, consider your family's vacationing habits now.  Will you really use your timeshare enough to break even or even save money on your vacations?  Do you have a location in mind that you would like to visit frequently over the next few years of your life? If you use your plot every year, you are far more likely to get your money's worth out of your timeshare. By using your timeshare as often as you can, you can make your timeshare purchase worth your while while creating memories with your family that will last a lifetime.

To make matters worse, surveys by the Food Bank show that one in ever two New Yorkers have trouble being able to afford basic foodstuffs, which is double the numbers shown on last years survey.  The same surveys show that in a theoretical job loss, one in every four New Yorkers would need immediate assistance in groceries, while one in two would need help within three months.

The Food Bank has an annual budget of $61 million dollars (fiscal year ending in June 2009) and $45 million of that is simply the cost of transporting all the food to the 1,000 soup kitchens and food pantries they supply in New York.  Some non-profits are trying to take up the slack left by individual donations, such as Robin Hood, a non-profit that has promised to match all individual donations two to one, up to $2 million dollars.  But this makes only a dent in the $9 million still needed to make the budget.

Executives at the Food Bank show concern for those New Yorkers who don't even know about the Food Bank and the assistance they can provide.  Every dollar donated to the Food Bank generates five meals for those who can't afford it.  Don't let a little economic trouble get you down, don't be afraid to help out those who need it.

A survey conducted by the Conference Board in New York looked at 197 companies and their donations. The amount of donations increased only a little, from $10.2 billion in 2006 to $11 billion in 2007.  The survey was conducted between March and June of 2008, before the Wall Street collapse.  The surveyed companies did not expect an increase in their grant making in 2008.

In 2007, all types of companies noticed an increase in corporate donations. The exception was environmental charities, which dropped 4.4%.  The top charities donated to were health and human-service non-profits.  This same trend has been noted for the last 5 years. The survey also took into account overseas donations. $2.35 billion was donated both in 2006 and 2007. The companies report spending 26% more in Europe than other international locations.  The Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and Caribbean, Canada, and Africa report the next-largest donations. The biggest donors are pharmaceutical companies at $3.84 billion in cash and products.  Banks, technology companies, and energy companies come in next in line. Products and services (non-cash donations) make up 54.2% of total donations in the U.S alone, with the percentage going up to 66.2 in overseas countries.

If you and your family vacation in the same place every year, you can get better accommodations than what hotels and motels can boast by owning a timeshare.   Timeshares are a form of vacation ownership where the owner pays only for the time spent at the resort instead of having to buy another piece of real-estate that will only be used a few weeks out the year.  For decades, millions of people have enjoyed a vacation every year with their timeshares.

Timeshares usually come with free leisure facilities on site for your enjoyment.  Timeshare resorts are much higher-quality than are hotels, as well as being, in the long run, a much better financial choice. Owners can purchase a fixed week every year or work on a floating system, where they select their week every year.   Some programs allow you to exchange your week for either another week at the same location or the same week at another location.

Timeshares come in all shapes and sizes.  If it is just you and your spouse, or a small family, one or two bedroom accommodations are available.  Larger families can purchase a three bedroom or two adjoining suites. More amenities are more readily available, with lounges area's, kitchens, and patios.  Timeshares are self-catering; there will be no room service or hostess.  You will be responsible for your own meals, but since most timeshares come with a kitchen, this shouldn't be a problem. 

Timeshares are purchased up front, and some people even put down a payment towards buying the rights as well as for the use of it. After your purchase there will be yearly fees that go towards maintenance, cleaning before and after your time slot, and taxes. 

For families that vacation in the same area every year, timeshares are simply the way to go.

One of our partner ministries contacted me last week with an opportunity to liquidate some surplus inventory.  They were given 4 pickup loads (3 pallets) of inventory from a lamp store.  The donation came about because the ministry development director noticed that the store was going out of business so he took the initiative to ask the manager if they would donate the remain inventory, this would save them the final liqudations.  Amazingly, the manager said yes and they arranged to have the merchandise picked up and stored at the charities headquarters. 

The moral of the story is "Ask" and you may be surprised that the company may say yes.  We are currently making arrangments with a liquidator to sell these lamps and there should be a very nice donation for the charity.  As a ministry representative or a person who has a burden for a specific charity, look for companies that are moving their locations, consolidating their warehouses or headquarters or closing stores.  There are opportunities to get multiple floors of office furniture, surplus inventory or surplus equipment.  

The key, pray that you will be in the right place at the right time and you speak to the right person who can make the decision to donate inventory or equipment. 

I received a call from one of our friends in Kansas City who has a Donor Advised Fund with Servant Christian Community Foundation http://www.servantchristian.com/web/Individuals_and_Families/open_a_fund.asp.   The fun part about Donor Advised Funds is that anyone can have one and this allows us to give money and raise money to support our causes.  We have some families that have burdens for orphanages, missions, clean water or feeding the poor.  Our ministry friend call idonate.com let us know that he had someone interested in donating some precious metals to benefit his donor advised fund.  This is where www.idonate.com comes in; we are experts in taking non cash donations and liquidating them on behalf of his Donor Advised Fund.  I had a good conversation with the donor who lived in a different city and made arrangements to receive the donation and I quickly entered his information on www.idonate.com ; we call it "The Donation Station."  

When a donation is entered into "The Donation Station," the donor and the ministry of fund holder gets an email confirming the donation and each party (the donor and recipient ministry) receive a confirmation email and a log in to view the donation information.  Each party also receives the ability to view the progress and eventual liquidation on the donation.  It is a very nice feature for both the donor and the recipient charity because they can be updated when it is convenient to them and not be burdened with the worry on what to do with non cash donation. 

We at idonate.com like to think that we keep ministries and charities freed up to focus more on their ministry less on fund raising.   

Here is the viral part.....

The next day, I received a call from a friend of the donor who happened to run a ministry that welcomed returning soldiers at the airports across the country.  He was excited to tell her about this idonate.com web site that allows ministries to take in non cash donations from anywhere in the US by partnering with idonate.com and placing a donation link on their web site.  This was a great benefit to this small ministry because they did not have the staff to receive and liquidate non cash donations.  The cost for the ministry to have the donation link on their web site is only $45 per month with a $100 set up fee and this was a small price to pay for this charity considering the upside of receiving donated cars, collectibles, jewelry, time shares and business inventory.  It is very encouraging for us to be a source for charities and donors alike to donate well beyond their check books and give of their possessions to the causes that they love.