Articles - Archived Expert Advice

Charitable Donations

I constantly receive address labels from various charities, and often end up sending money to each of them. I'd like to keep making donations, but what is the best way to go about it?

Whether by mail or phone, it's easy to be overwhelmed by charitable requests. One solution to help you manage your charitable costs is to decide on an annual or monthly amount of money you wish to contribute. Once you've created your budget, you then have a roadmap for how much you are comfortable giving.

While giving small amounts to several charities means you are supporting more organizations, giving more money to fewer charities may be the best option. Not only will your money go further since it's not spread so thin, but there's another reason. Often, charities will continue to contact those who give small amounts, hoping they will donate more. This leads to increased administrative costs for the charity.

The next time you receive address labels in the mail—and you know you've reached your charitable gifting limit—contact the charity to let them know you are unable to support their organization at this time, and that you wish to discontinue receiving materials. This saves the charity time and money.

Before making charitable contributions, you may want to visit www.guidestar.org or www.charitynavigator.org. These sites provide information on how charities use the money they raise, so you can see if your money will go toward administrative costs or services and/or research. Lastly, get receipts that state the amount of your donation, along with the charity's name. You will need to provide this information if you wish to claim these donations on your income tax return.