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There are a wide range of benefits when you donate to charity. In this session we want to cover some of the tangible and intangible things you can get back when you decide to give to a charity.

What qualifies as a donation?

In the eyes of most people when you donate you donate money, physical goods, services or your time. There are people who are good at plumbing and they donate their skills in this area. Other are skilled at roofing, they too give their time as a donation.

There was a man who played the accordion, he would go to his local nursing homes and play a few hours a day for the patients who were bed ridden, this was his donation.

The Benefits of Donating to Charity

In the case of a charitable deduction for tax purposes money, services, time are all acceptable as long as you get a receipt. The benefit to this type of donation is a tax deduction.

In the case of the accordion player we can only assume his benefit was the spirit of giving, giving to those who had little and in return a smile of gratitude was his benefit. There was no money exchanged, there were no tax benefits derived, just the pure and simple exchange, no matter how brief, of making someone feel good.

When we think of giving to charity we think of an organization, and giving money and getting the benefit of a tax deduction is fine. Money is needed to keep things going, but the intangible benefits when we donate to charity will live on a little longer.

Even though the accordion is an instrument you hardly ever see anymore, the accordion player is an example of what we would like to see more of. If you just have an hour and a smile to give to someone, your heart will reap the benefits from that donation for a lifetime.