Gifts of Cash
Making a donation of cash is as simple as writing a check or authorizing a charge on your credit card. From your standpoint, it's no fuss, no bother.
If you itemize deductions on your tax returns, the first tangible benefit of making a gift of cash to Imago Dei MCC is an income tax charitable deduction for the full value of the gift in most cases. The resulting reduction in income taxes payable lowers the net cost of the gift. If you are subject to state and/or local income taxes as well as federal, the combined marginal rate (after the federal deduction for those income taxes paid) should be taken into consideration in determining the gift's net cost.
If you don't usually itemize deductions, you may want to consider it for any tax year in which you make a sizable charitable donation. One technique used by people who have few itemized deductions is to alternate between years in which they take the standard deduction and make few charitable gifts, and the years in which they give double their desired annual philanthropic support and shift to itemizing.
Beware of the annual limitation on the use of charitable deductions claimed for gifts to public charitable organizations, which for any specific year is 50 percent of your adjusted gross income (AGI) for cash gifts. Any unused deductible amounts can be carried over and used for as many as five additional years, if necessary.
If you predict that your estate will be subject to estate tax at your death, keep in mind that you receive a federal gift tax charitable deduction for the value of gifts of cash made during your lifetime. Since the value also is removed from your future estate, it completely eliminates the federal estate tax. This savings reduces the net cost of your charitable gifts.
Outright Gifts
A gift by check is one of the most common methods for making an outright charitable contribution. For gifts by check of $250 and more, donors must have written confirmation from the charitable donee, as canceled checks are no longer sufficient proof of a deductible gift at this level. Cancelled checks are acceptable for checks of less than $250. True cash gifts (not checks), regardless of the amount, must be evidenced by a receipt from the charitable organization.
To illustrate the net cost of a $1,000 cash gift, assume the gift is made by a taxpayer with a combined state and federal marginal income tax rate of 36 percent. The amount of the tax bracket, multiplied by the amount of the gift, is subtracted from the gift to determine the net cost to the donor.
36% x $1,000 = $360
$1,000 - $360 = $640
Therefore, the net cost of the donor's gift is $640.
Corporate Matching
Many companies have programs through which they will "match" the charitable contributions made by their employees. Through corporate gift matching, your employer can multiply your gift to Imago Dei MCC, making it go further.
Check with your company's Human Resources office to see if they offer gift matching. (If they don't, you may want to ask your company to start one.) If your employer does offer this program, your Human Resources department should provide you with a matching gift form to send to Imago Dei MCC along with your donation. Complete this form and mail it with your donation to:
Imago Dei MCC
Attention: Donor Services
1223 Middletown Road
Glen Mills, PA 19342
Our Donor Services office will verify receipt of your gift and return the form to your company for matching funds.
