Given John’s devotion to precision, I will mention once again that miles can be purchased, and would, in that situation, have a cost basis. However, I don’t know of any stories where a donor bought miles and made them a charitable gift. I see more stock options used as charitable gifts (which, at times, also do not have a cost basis but not all the time).
I hope we never have to figure out whether our donors bought or earned their miles.
--Marianne
________________________________________
Marianne M. Pelletier
Staupell Analytics Group
607-592-3797
marianne@staupell.com<mailto:
marianne@staupell.com>
http://www.staupell.com
From: Advancement Services Discussion List <
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG> On Behalf Of Tammy Cline
Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2019 11:17 AM
To:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG
Subject: Re: [FUNDSVCS] Auction Donations
Thank you everyone for the feedback, it has been extremely helpful.
From: Advancement Services Discussion List <
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG<mailto:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG>> On Behalf Of John Taylor
Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2019 7:27 AM
To:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG<mailto:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG>
Subject: Re: [FUNDSVCS] Auction Donations
Just to be clear, while miles may have "value," they have no cost-basis and therefore even if you could donate them to the charity of your choice there would not be any deductible value. While I think the attached is at the download site here it is again - see the final paragraph.
John
John H. Taylor
Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting
2604 Sevier St.
Durham, NC 27705
johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com<mailto:
johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com>
919.816.5903 (cell/text)
Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987
On Thu, Mar 7, 2019 at 7:20 AM Marianne Pelletier <
marianne@staupell.com<mailto:
marianne@staupell.com>> wrote:
You Can donate frequent flier miles but usually through the airline’s chosen charities . There are also apps where you can donate miles or trade them for magazine subscriptions.
They do have an implicit value, but, as John says, are rarely purchased. Last I heard, a mile was worth $0.20 in the US but that was years ago.
Even with this detail, though, every charity I know does not value my in-kind gift— that’s up to me and Turbotax.
Sorry you’re getting pressured, Tammy. I hope the IRS rule that’s been shared in this thread helps you.
Marianne
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 6, 2019, at 10:13 PM, Eric Valdescaro <
Eric.Valdescaro@uhfoundation.org<mailto:
Eric.Valdescaro@uhfoundation.org>> wrote:
Hi Tammy,
Whoever wrote the italicized passage to you may have very well done all that, but it doesn’t make those donations anymore eligible for tax-deductions. FWIW, I’ve seen charities take partial interest gifts for their auctions and issue a tax receipt to the donor, and essentially they let the donor worry about it.
Although I don’t believe that’s good donor relations nor very ethical, it happens because either some charities are willing to take just about anything they can auction off, or are simply unaware of charitable giving tax laws. Either way, a week at a vacation home is a popular auction item so they don’t pass it up.
I debated with at least one donor who insisted to me that the time share week they donated to a charity was eligible for a tax deduction because the charity issued a receipt and the IRS didn’t flag it. And that becomes part of the damage… you get donors floating around with misinformation.
-Eric
Eric F. Valdescaro
AVP, Advancement Services
University of Hawaii Foundation
From: Advancement Services Discussion List [mailto:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG] On Behalf Of Gross, Debra
Sent: Wednesday, March 6, 2019 9:18 AM
To:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG<mailto:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG>
Subject: Re: [FUNDSVCS] Auction Donations
Tammy
Check IRS Pub 1771 for the language to use in a GIK acknowledgement – we never put the value, just a description.
Debra Gross
Director, Gift and Records Administration
CHOP Foundation
3401 Civic Center Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
267-426-6488 ● f 267-426-6530 ● m 267-253-0994
grossd@email.chop.edu<mailto:
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From: Advancement Services Discussion List <
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG<mailto:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG>> On Behalf Of Tammy Cline
Sent: Wednesday, March 6, 2019 2:01 PM
To:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG<mailto:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG>
Subject: [External] Re: [FUNDSVCS] Auction Donations
Thank you, John!!!
From: Advancement Services Discussion List <
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG<mailto:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG>> On Behalf Of John Taylor
Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2019 1:56 PM
To:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG<mailto:
FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG>
Subject: Re: [FUNDSVCS] Auction Donations
A quick review of IRS Publication 526 will confirm that partial interest and service contributions are not tax-deductible gifts. You cannot change that.
BTW, you cannot donate frequent flier miles so I am not sure where that notion came from. And even if you could their cost-basis is $0 so there would be nothing to deduct.
John
John H. Taylor
Principal, John H. Taylor Consulting
2604 Sevier St.
Durham, NC 27705
johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com<mailto:
johntaylorconsulting@gmail.com>
919.816.5903 (cell/text)
Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987
On Wed, Mar 6, 2019 at 1:48 PM Tammy Cline <
tammy.cline@wpaog.org<mailto:
tammy.cline@wpaog.org>> wrote:
Hello FundSvcs,
We have people diligently seeking donations that involve vacation properties, sports suites, etc. for an auction. I do know vacation homes are never charitable as it is a partial interest gift.
Below are comments from someone wanting to donate their vacation property for a weekend. Could someone help me understand the IRS rules for these types of auction items and speak into some of the comments below?
I have run countless charitable auctions of property and vacations, and worked with charitable trust attorney’s. This includes religious, sports and Veterans organizations. A few years ago, I put up something as escoteric as 100k air-miles. It all kind of works the same.
1. The donor estimates the over-all “cost” of the donation IAW mortgage payments, etc.
2. The organization vets the donation- only to ensure it’s not out of whack ( like claiming a weekend in a Motel 6 is worth $100k)
3. A letter from the organization recognizing the contribution and estimated worth.
Thank you!
Tammy M. Cline
Assistant Director, Advancement Services
West Point Association of Graduates
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