I’ve been thinking about this topic because of the tax bill. I typically don’t get receipts for my donations and so the tax effects are irrelevant. And some of the things I “donate” to aren’t charities. For example, yesterday, I emptied my change purse for the tip jar at the sandwich shop. I’ll keep donating household goods to Easter Seals and Goodwill and books to the library without getting a receipt. I often make a contribution if a coworker is raising funds for a goal: playing video games for children’s hospitals, bicycling for blood disorder charities, a GoFundMe for support of people in the individuals’ home affected by a natural disaster.
To whom do you make donations, how do you give, will you keep doing so?
I won’t be itemizing in 2018-2025 and was thinking about bidding more extravagantly at fundraiser events since there will be no tax deduction either way for me (pure donation or overbidding on the value of an item).
Since this topic was brought up earlier, I spent time last weekend sending off checks to 12 charities, even tho I had made some donations earlier in year. I also dropped off 6 bags at Hospice thrift shop. I don’t know if I’ll be as generous next year, have to se how taxes go.
I give more money now to political campaigns/candidates then I do to charities one can deduct. I will be upping those as it’s an important election year. That being said, I am thinking I will be giving less or nothing to some charities, but more to those that are under attack by the government. I will not give anything anymore to disasters which happen in certain states due to how their representatives in DC vote and what they support or don’t support.
My heart aches for the local homeless shelter where we do a lot of volunteering and other charities because people will stop giving if they don’t get a tax break. Need sure doesn’t go away!!!
As a pastor, I am very concerned that giving will drop in 2018. People tend not to give if they don’t think they are getting something in return - I remember years ago someone demanding her $25 donation to the local library be returned because her name was accidentally left off the thank you sign posted in the window!
It’s not only that people may be less likely to itemize deductions, and therefore less likely to see donating as a tax break. Inheritance taxes are changing so bequeathing to charities has no advantage for your estate (if you are super wealthy, especially). And with the uncertainty of tax changes, people hang on to more of their discretionary income, period.
We give to our faith community, and also have a monthly amount we target/spend for other charities. If we haven’t used that up by the end of the month (we typically write amounts on our refrig’ calendar, very high tech) we give it to Donors Choose. But we almost always “spend” it.
No plans to change our strategy, unless it’s to give more. We need each other now more than ever.
We have no plans to change our charitable contributions as long as we can afford to make them. We do theses because we want to. The deduction was a bonus.
Agree with Thumper1.
I don’t have a charitable strategy. I give to various organizations at different times of the year. I don’t have a set amount I like to give. That is something I am considering changing. I want to have a clearer strategy for giving.
I think people will say they are going to keep giving at the same amount but actually won’t. We will be able to see by the end of the next year or so whether that, in fact, has happened. I bet charitable donations will go down.
I plan to give the same amount, as giving is something I do for the sake of giving. However, I DID “pre-give” a lot of my planned donation for 2018. I figure there’s no harm in benefiting from the tax write-off this year.
@mom60 – we didn’t have a strategy either, but as our income stabilized we would itemize at tax time and think “really? that’s all we gave?” For the years when our kids were teens, we collected all the December appeals, and Christmas Eve we would decide as a group who to give to. Led to some interesting discussions!
We decided what we were comfortable with, added a bit more, and divided by 12. It goes pretty much to any reputable charity that turns up at work (coworkers who run marathons for cancer, etc) the door (boy scouts! my neighborhood kids know I’m a sure thing) or in local news (disasters, etc).
It is much easier for us to do it this way, instead of scattershot. We feel more like we’re able to respond without constantly checking on how much? for this? or that? Now we just know how much is in the kitty, and hit our year end goal every time. We like little charities since they need the help, but we give to major relief efforts as well. I can’t say that we have noticed the loss of money too much.
The tax deduction certainly helped and we will continue to itemize - at least for 2018.
If we give to to those charities that our employer gift matches, the charity comes out ahead and I take $ from the company, which is always good. This year I was able to get a new charity on that list, one I can continue to support. I might lose that 30% benefit in taxes, but they get my donation in matching funds. Even retirees get the $ match. Good all around.
I wonder what will happen to the “good neighbor” fund at work. It will be interesting to watch if employees’ donations drop.
I don’t think there will be that big of an effect due to tax law changes. To many people the tax benefit is a side benefit of the donation itself. And it will simplify things. No longer will you need to keep tedious records. With a growing economy, I’ll take the over on contributions. I guess we’ll see.
I work for a nonprofit and we are very concerned about this. I’m also wondering if people will make an extra donation in 2017 and none in 2018. I’ve read that some people will double their donation every other year, to bunch their donations and maybe meet the threshold for itemizing. That’s not great for nonprofits who need the stability of a more or less steady stream.
I will continue to donate at the same level, but I did donate about 50% more before the end of the year and will donate 50% less in 2018, but only in 2018, as I realize the non-profits need that steady stream of donations as mentioned by @eastcoast101
Many years ago we opened a charitable giving account at Fidelity. The deduction is (was as of 2018?) taken upfront. Some years we’d add to it, some years not (depending on advice from our financial planner). It’s now well funded so we won’t be changing our giving position moving forward.
But I am very concerned about small nonprofits that exist on shoestring budgets.
We will donate at same rate. Depending on where we stand when we get to 2018 taxes, I may stop getting receipts for donations if we don’t look like we’ll still itemize. We don’t have a mortgage but will max out the allowable amounts for property taxes, etc. Right now I think it will about be a break even. But our particular charitables are because of our beliefs, not as a tax tool. Curious about how many people make donations just to get the deduction.
I’m happy to see that many people will continue to give. This is what we will do also. I really don’t think of the tax consequences of donating except when we prepare our returns. We give because we want to.
Long version:
In 2018, and for as long as the funds last, our monetary donations will come from a newly set up Fidelity charitable fund. A large part of dh’s compensation has been stock, which we’ve learned to not count on, so we used some of those shares to fund the account. He’s required to give to a large charitable organization through work and we may as well get the tax benefit now since we would not under the new tax bill.
Otherwise, we’ve often chosen to give to people we know close to where the need exists and trusted that they will do a better job than the mega-charities to make good use of the money.
Tangible donations have generally been to our benefit as we declutter, so I don’t care about not getting a deduction for them in the future. Again, we often gave stuff directly to people we knew could use some help (tornado and hurricane victims known to our kids or other relatives) and didn’t worry about getting a tax receipt.
Our cash donations will likely remain the same, but I may lose some incentive to tackle the annual Goodwill donation. Purging is good, but getting the donations in by the end of the year for tax purposes was always the kick in the pants I needed. But then again, it will be easier, since if I’m not getting a deduction, I won’t need to log everything into It’s Deductible. I can just throw it all in boxes and drop it off!