Ar All Charitable Donations Equal?

[Fantine]

A few years ago, I read an article saying that the tax code should be changed to allow for priorities in charitable donations.

There are charities we benefit from, directly or indirectly. For example:

- when parents donate to the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, school PTA's, etc. while their children are attending programs and derive benefit from them.

- when people donate to universities to establish scholarship funds in the name of someone they love.

- even the upkeep of churches we attend and whose services we use.

These are deemed less altruistic than those charities working with the starving (Catholic Relief Services) or victims of great disasters (American Red Cross) and others.

The article said that while some charitable donations should be 100% deductible, others should only be 90%, or 80% or even 50% deductible.

So how do you feel? Is being a Little League booster equivalent to helping tsunami victims?

I tend to agree with the article.

When I give to a charity, I can tell the difference by how warm and fuzzy I feel....

And donating to the Girl Scouts just doesn't make me feel as warm and fuzzy as feeding the hungry.

 

[NavyGuy7]

They should all be deductible, I think, so long as the cause is noble, and not something stupid. Otherwise you have people donating to stupid organizations just to get deductibles.

Of course, this bears the question... what is considered a "noble cause"?