Posts Tagged ‘donations’

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Why would you donate your old car?

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Donating your used car is a win-win situation, and who doesn’t like to win?

If you have a car just sitting in the driveway that may not be worth the hassle of selling, donation is a very good option. Many different kinds of charities accept cars – even if they don’t use the cars themselves, they can sell each vehicle at auction and keep the profit as a monetary donation. If you don’t want to go through a big charity, you can look around in your community and think about where a donated car could make a difference.

Not only will you get the great feeling of helping out a person or an organization in need, but there’s a simple incentive for you as well: donations to many charities are tax-deductible, which means you may be able to write off the value of your automobile donation and save money on your taxes this year!

They Have Less, But Give More. What We Can Learn From The Philanthropy Of The Poor…

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Americans who don’t make a lot of money tend to be more generous than those who do.

  • America’s poorest demographic is also the most generous, a reality rarely publicized. They give back a higher percentage of their earnings than their higher-income counterparts.
  • During the hardest of economic times, they cut back on their giving the least as compared with wealthier people.
  • Our nation’s most generous are also the least-educated, oldest, most religious, most likely to rent (instead of own) their homes, be on welfare, drive used cars or rely on public transportation, to be students, minorities, women, and recent immigrants.

Facts & Figures

  • The lowest-income fifth of population normally give more than their capacity, the next two-fifths give at capacity, and those above give below capacity (two to three times less than their capacity).
  • The poorest fifth of households contributed an average of 4.3% of their incomes to charities in 2007 while the richest gave at 2.1%.

Best Quote

“I believe the more I give, the more I receive… Plus, I’ve been in their position, and someday I might be again.” – Tanya Davis, a laid-off security guard and single mother on why she gives

What does it mean when they say your donation is tax deductible?

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Philanthropy can do more than just aid a worthy cause; in certain situations, generosity can reward the giver as well. Giving to charity can actually reduce the taxes you have to pay, but there are special conditions that have to be met first.

When you donate to charity, you’re spending money, right? So no matter how much money you make, you now have less of it to use. But even though donating to charity means you’re using your own money in a way you choose, you’re not using it to buy new things for yourself, you’re using it to benefit a worthy cause. As long as you donate the money to a qualified recipient – a person or organization the government trusts to use that money effectively – you have the right to be rewarded for using your own wealth to help others. So your donation becomes tax deductible, which means you have a lower adjusted net income.

To put it simply, when you donate to charity, you’re really getting two benefits at once: you’re helping your chosen organization and you’re also reducing your own income taxes.

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