Maintaining Goodwill with Your Donors by Documenting Their Gifts (Part 2)
In our last blog, we discussed the general rules organizations such as yours are required to follow when receiving gifts. However, depending on what type of gift you’re receiving, additional rules exist. In this blog, we discuss the most useful gift of all: cash gifts.
Cash gifts are obviously easily valued. For gifts of $250 or less, the donor needs only proof of payment for a tax deduction, but if the gift amount is more than that, he or she must retain a receipt.
On the receipt, be sure to include a qualifier of the amount of any service or tangible item received in return for the payment, or specify that a token or no value was returned in exchange.
If the value of the “appreciation gift” you give the donor is the lesser of 2% of the donation or $96, the amount of the contribution’s deductibility is not affected. If your appreciation gift is valued higher than these thresholds, the value is subtracted from the donation to determine the allowable deduction the donor can claim. Items bearing your organization’s logo are excluded if their cost is less than $9.60.
For all contributions made by payroll deduction, the employer is responsible for informing the employee of the donation amount.
Check back again as we discuss the regulations you need to know for non-cash item donations. If you have any questions, please contact us at (904) 398-4747 or lynn@onlinestewardship.com.
