Monday, October 8, 2012

Making The Most Of Veteran Donations

By Sharlene Fleming


There's a difference between supporting charitable causes and giving veteran donations. In this case, the donor is not just helping a person in need. This is someone who has risked life and limb so that others may enjoy freedom, safety and a good life. It's hard to put a price on something like this, but let's start by giving what they need to get back on their feet, so to speak.

Everybody, no matter what their own financial condition, can pitch in and help in many ways. Actually, there are so many possible ways to help that it can be quite confusing as to what to do and what not to do. Go through the details provided below and each person can then decide how to help on an individual basis.

To keep things simple and effective, consider making a cash donation online. This will help the organization getting it to fulfill the specific needs of the vets they care for. Giving cash also helps the recipient charity in leveraging all the donated funds into a single pool to buy goods and services in bulk at lower rates.

Of course, all this doesn't have to come from the donor's own money. Many people organize events such as a car wash or bake sale with the proceeds going to a veterans charity. The most effective cash pledges, though, are recurring payments from donors on a monthly or annual basis. This helps the charity plan for the future knowing how much cash they will have in hand during each month or for a given year.

The second best choice is to directly hand over gifts and goods. Anything new or used can be donated, because a lot of this goes to unemployed or disabled veterans, who may also be homeless. Skilled workers can donate time, businesses can donate their own goods or services, and everyone can volunteer to help.

All household use items may be given. But the three things that are most needed are clothing, food and vehicles. A used car donated to a veteran is probably the best way anyone can help, and it has a lot of advantages for the donor too.

Every dollar given in the form of veteran donations is tax deductible. If goods are donated, a tax-deduction equal to the fair market value can be taken, and this applies to cars as well. The recipient charity has to be registered as a non-profit organization with the IRS in order for the donations to be tax-deductible.

It is not just about making veteran donations, whether in the form of cash, goods, vehicles or time. It's also about supporting them in other ways, such as buying from veteran-owned businesses which have a policy of hiring honorably discharged members of the armed forces. A business owner could help by providing product discounts. The key aim for all of this is letting veterans know that their sacrifice and courage is being rewarded and what they are getting is not just charity.




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