Help Your Nonprofit Get Those End Of Year Donations

Most charitable donations take place that the end of the year. That means that your nonprofit needs to do its best to capture the attention of those in the giving spirit. A great way to do that is to let them know the steps they must do to get the maximum benefit from their donations to your nonprofit. If you don’t capture their attention, somebody else will. That’s why you should be the one. You don’t have to spend hard to come by money to deliver that message. Take advantage of your social media and any free radio time you can get.

What your charitable donors must know:

Your donors must itemize their deductions. If they want to capture the full benefit of their charitable donations they will need to itemize them out on the Schedule A of their tax returns. Otherwise their charitable donations to your nonprofit will not count.

Credit card donations and donations by check must be dated no later than December 31 to count for that given year. It’s okay if your donors do not get the credit card billing statement by year’s end or that the check doesn’t clear. The one thing that must be evident was that the act of donating was done prior to year end for it to be used for that tax year.

Your nonprofit is an IRS approved charity. Let them know that you have the 501(c)(3) status. If you don’t, work on getting that.

Larger donations can be rolled over for up to five years. If your charitable donor exceeds the maximum write-off they can do that year they can move it to the next year.

You have the opportunity to make a difference:
Having a basic understanding of the process for donations and how they benefit your charitable donors will lead your nonprofit to a more prosperous road. You don’t have to be an accountant and you shouldn’t give tax advice, but you can certainly let your donors know that there are great benefits to donating to your nonprofit.