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Ed Long, the Smarter Giving Guy Giving to fewer charities can result in more of your money going to programs you care about. Read more about this, tax-free IRA donations, avoiding scams and other year-end giving tips. Charity identities matter. Among other things, scam “charities” adopt names confusingly similar to legitimate groups — and siphon off dollars needed for good works.  Your Car? Ever thought about donating a car? SeriousGivers has just made available a free, expanded report on charity car donations. It’s an eye-opener. Don’t donate your car until you’ve read it.
Here’s the breakdown:
Giving USA Foundation has issued a free executive summary and offers the full report for sale at the same location.
The SGO report spells out important questions you should consider before donating a car. It also examines the overall benefits — and shares conclusions on whether a donation will be a win, loss or draw. Among other things, the SGO report concludes that
The Oregon Attorney General is challenging the operations of “charities” that seek donations in Oregon but spend little on their missions. A report in The Oregonian focuses on the activities of Shiloh International Ministries, which led the AG’s list of “20 Worst Charities” for 2010. Shiloh International Ministries is based in La Verne, California; its EIN is 953572055.
Why not print it out and keep it with your charitable contributions “stuff” — and take a look at it before you make a donation? IRS Tip #1 — make sure you are giving to a charity. You can use the www.seriousgivers.org/find-a-charity/ page to check — every organization included in the www.seriousgivers.org database is a public charity to which donations are deductible. |
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Copyright © 2012 Edward W. Long | The Smarter Giving Guy | All Rights Reserved |
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The learning and connection with readers at SmarterGivingGuy.com over the last two years has put us in the position to develop 
Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity by Mario Morino urges all nonprofits to “manage to outcomes,” and provides advice on how to do it. A nonprofit that manages to outcomes asks itself “To what end?” when analyzing its mission and results; it defines goals, measures how it’s doing, and manages accordingly. Leap of Reason urges funders to support (even demand) that management.
Individuals are again by far the top category of givers in the U.S. — giving more than $254 billion (or 87%) of the 2010 total — as reported in Giving USA 2011 from the Giving USA Foundation.
You’ve likely heard about the “Gates – Buffett Giving Pledge” — a terrific program that invites the wealthiest in America to commit the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. Now available: the giving pledge for the rest of us. Individuals and families donate more than $250 billion a year. If we’re serious about how we donate, together we can change the world. 
SeriousGivers.Org (SGO) has just issued an eye-opening report on donation of cars to charity.
The IRS just published a handy list of eight tips for deducting charitable contributions.