Charity donation per paycheck

[dabug]

HR has been handing out forms where you can donate money out of your paycheck to a charity or something.

Does Target get a tax write off for doing it this way? Am I better off donating directly to a local charity?

 

[FlowTeamChick]

No, Target doesn't gain anything other than good will within the community for making the option available to TMs. I donate a small amount each paycheck to a neighborhood community center a few blocks from my house. I could claim the cumulative donation as a charitable contribution on my tax return.
The United Way, the umbrella agency that receives the donations and then forwards to the various organizations, does take a small percentage (I don't know exactly what it is, but it's not large) as a clearinghouse sort of processing fee. I used to work for a non-profit who received donations the same way. So if you wanted to donate directly to the charity, they would get a little more because that processing fee isn't taken out. However, donating a lump sum can be a strain on the budget, depending on your circumstances. A few bucks taken out of my paycheck each payday is hardly noticed.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

I said no. I don’t trust United way.

 

[Tessa120]

The United Way, the umbrella agency that receives the donations and then forwards to the various organizations, does take a small percentage (I don't know exactly what it is, but it's not large) as a clearinghouse sort of processing fee. I used to work for a non-profit who received donations the same way. So if you wanted to donate directly to the charity, they would get a little more because that processing fee isn't taken out. However, donating a lump sum can be a strain on the budget, depending on your circumstances. A few bucks taken out of my paycheck each payday is hardly noticed.

I heard that the United Way will ignore any statement to not donate to certain causes.

How it was explained is Charity A, B and C. If you don't care, United Way will spread donations equally. If you say you don't want to donate to Charity B, it will happily put your money to A and C. And then reallocate other people's until A, B and C have an equal amount of money. It's not really not donating if more people's money is diverted from a wanted cause to an unwanted cause to make up for you stating it unwanted.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

I heard that the United Way will ignore any statement to not donate to certain causes.

I don't make a statement to not donate to a certain cause. I fill out my form to donate to a certain cause. Not sure the form even allows for a negative "don't send my money to __" statement.