In this 7th blog post, the team at FUTURES is sharing 7 Ideas to help you navigate the volume of those end-of-year charity requests for donations that come your way at this time of year. You work hard to earn your money and strive to use it wisely all year long. Deciding if you want to donate, how you might donate, and how you might plan your donation strategy are important aspects of your personal financial model. In this FUTURES blog post, we’ll explore 7 ideas you might want to consider for your end-of-year giving strategy. If you’ve already made your 2019 donation decisions, check out these ideas to incorporate them into your 2020 giving plan. It’s never too soon to start wisely.
Answering End-of-Year Asks
With the end of the year just a few days away, there’s a good chance that you’re noticing an increase of solicitations in your snail mailbox as well as your inbox. These ballooning requests for annual giving campaigns and other holiday charity drives are typical at this time of year. There are several reasons for this last-season ask.
First, many people elect to hold off on their gifting decisions until the end of the year. If bonuses or other cash inflows spark the chance to give more, waiting is a good idea. Charities know this and time requests accordingly.
Other individuals elect to collect asks and requests all year long and wait until the end of the year to consider all asks at one time. This approach can help weigh and compare all giving options and can help those who want to make donations to make choices of charity and causes that align to their life priorities. Finally, other people wait until year end for tax purposes, hoping to increase the amount of money they can deduct from their taxes. Many people assess their year as a whole and opt to donate to yield a deduction that does some good.
Choose Wisely
Regardless of the reasons, waiting until the end of the year to make charitable donation decisions often means those decisions become last-minute ones, done just before the new calendar year begins. It’s a busy time and often folks find themselves giving to the charities at the top of their inbox or bill pile. It pays to take the time to choose wisely—for the charities and for your own bigger future.
FUTURES Planning Tips
In addition to the ideas in this post, check out the actual FUTURES program as you wrap up your 2019 financial situation and begin to consider your plan for 2020. While designed for students, the powerful and informative content of the 29 learning sections or modules in FUTURES is rich and valuable for anyone.
FUTURES: Financially Literate Kids for a Financially Literate Society™ can help you maximize your year-end giving and more confidently make an impact on the organizations that mean the most to you. Full of great ideas about personal finance, economics, entrepreneurship, and investing, FUTURES: Financially Literate Kids for a Financially Literate Society™ is FREE, and that’s a plus to any budget!
IDEA 1: Fewer is Greater
As you consider the many options you likely have for annual campaigns, annual appeals, fundraising requests, and other charitable donations, start first by reflecting on what matters most to you and your family. Giving plans that are targeted and focus on the types of organizations that matter to you are often the most meaningful for both the charity recipients and you! You might feel pressure to give at least some small amount to every organization that asks for a donation. Why not consider a more focused approach instead?
Instead of giving a small donation to many different charities, how much of a difference might your gift make to one or two organizations that truly make a difference to you?
If you have allocated $300 as the amount of money you want to donate at the end of the year, you could share that money in many different ways. You could make—
60 donations at $5 each.
30 donations at $10 each.
12 donations at $25 each.
6 donations at $50 each.
3 donations at $100 each.
2 donations at $150 each.
Or, you could potentially make one single donation at $300.
How will it work best for YOU to slice your donation pie?
IDEA 2: A Little Bit of Planning Goes A Very Long Way
The end of the year can be an optimal time for many people to donate and most charities do make their biggest pushes when everyone is in the holiday spirit. By staying ahead of the curve and planning ahead, you can save a lot of time, stretch your donation dollars further, and increase the value of your gifts to both the organizations and your family. Planning your annual donation strategy is really no different than planning your monthly budgets, shopping budgets, or establishing a separate account for bigger spending demands like continuing education for your kids. They all require these four Cs: choices, consideration, care, and commitment.
Next year, instead of waiting until the last days of the year, begin to design your giving strategy at the start of the year. Make your plan easy enough to maintain it all year long.
Create a folder on your desktop or dedicate a physical basket for Donation Requests in your home bill-paying space.
Collect the various charity requests that resonate with you. Perhaps it is a favorite animal shelter, a medical facility that took great care of a family member, a religious organization that means a lot to you all year long, or even the local community center. Collect reminders for all of these.
If a particular appeal or cause touches your heartstrings, make a note of this.
Resist the urge to make a gift before you do your annual giving review.
You might ask the charities that tempt you to want to give in the moment instead of waiting to reach back out to you in mid-November.
This request lets the charity know of your interest and it triggers them to schedule their next asks. It also reduces the amount of mail you are likely to receive in the interim.
It could even start a dialog that might inspire you to engage more directly with the charity in other ways, like volunteering or attending a few of their events during the year.
While planning to make donations at the end of the calendar year works for many individuals, the realities of life can also impact your donation budget. So, you might want to budget for some incidental donations along the way.
Think about those wrapping paper sales, bake sales, cookie and candy bar sales, and other spur-of-the-moment requests that come up during the calendar year. If your nephew is running in a charity 5K or your daughter’s band needs to raise money for new uniforms, these asks can impact your end-of-year donation budget.
If you budget for these ongoing requests in your monthly plan, then these interim asks will not derail your overall giving strategy.
IDEA 3: Diligence Can Mean Deductions
Be sure to keep track of the donations you make. Ask for receipts. If you do end up donating to a cause or donate money at an event using cash or credit card, ask for a receipt. Most events, even simple bake sales, use payment apps on a mobile phone or tablet and can easily email a receipt. The same holds true for in-kind donation you might make like donating the furniture your uncle left to you or toys and clothing you no longer need.
The IRS requires you to produce a receipt for any donation of over $250 to acknowledge the gift and spell out whether the charity gave the donor anything in exchange for the donation—and if so, a good faith estimate of its value. For more information, go to irs.gov.
IDEA 4: Give to The Real Deal
While there are many different causes that may appeal to your charitable giving strategy, be sure to confirm the legitimacy of the charity. If you are hoping to deduct what you donate, you must take the time to confirm the cause is an eligible charity. The IRS provides lots of information about how to confirm a group’s 501c3 status to help you determine if the organization is a public charity or private foundation.
Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and government agencies are eligible to receive deductible donations, even if they are not listed, provided they are following the rules as defined by the IRS. If you are hoping to receive a tax deduction for your donation, you will need to itemize your taxes. Do your homework before assuming you will receive a deduction for any sizable donation like a car, property, or furnishing. Many such categories have specified caps on what can be deducted.
IDEA 5: Timing Matters
Remember that timing matters when considering your donations and possible deductions. Even if you make a donation to a charity by using your credit card, the donation is considered to have been made in the year that you charged it, not the year when you ultimately pay the actual credit card invoice. This can become extremely relevant to end-of-year giving plans. In addition, tax laws often change, so be sure to double-check and confirm your giving strategy when it comes to receiving potential tax benefits.
IDEA 6: Cash, Check, Credit, and Beyond
While many people make donations using cash, writing checks, or pledging donations with their credit cards, it might be valuable for you to consider other ways that your long-term financial strategies can come into play. 401K plans, IRAs, insurance policies, stocks, and long-term appreciated securities can also be valuable giving options.
IDEA 7: Stock Up on Learning
Check out the Personal Finance strand of FUTURES for lots of information on how your investments might play a key role in your charitable strategy. Remember those STOCKing Stuffer stock certificate ideas from an earlier post? Just think of how you might be able to leverage such investments in your future if only you begin to discover more now.
Be on the lookout for our next posts in the coming weeks. We’ll lead off the year with ideas to help you establish smart and sustainable New Year’s resolutions that can add value to you, your family, your budget, and your overall financial literacy all year long. Until then, the FUTURES team wishes you and your family a healthy, happy, and safe big FUTURE!