Donating to charity

hey all BHW members,

I'm looking to start giving profitable margins to charities which mean alot to me!
I actually already contacted the Wounded Warriors Project, which to my dismay have refused me, as the resources needed are of a High federal and state level....apparently my forecast of marginal profits did not sate their hunger much.


Im looking to donate % based profits to 2 types of charities,

one is for veterans who are homeless, and families of wounded/deceased servicemen and women.
two is for dogs, im not a huge animal lover but i love dogs and every dog i own/owned has been rescued.

However i'm from england living in the USA now so all of these charities i would have known are now new to me.

Does anyone know how difficult it will be for me to be able to donate to a charity considering the response i got from the wounded warrior project, and also does anyone have any charities they would recommend from my two types above, taking all recommendations to look in to them and contact them to better survey the charities themselves and where my donations go.

WW refused you?

Why did you not just donate?

https://support.woundedwarriorproje...2DtFV8kaEwnQnYkfLvGQgZTtRwrTyTxRoCogEQAvD_BwE

What exactly did you say that brought about a refusal? Somehow I'm doubtful that any charity would refuse a no-strings-attached donation...

BassTrackerBoats said:

WW refused you?

Why did you not just donate?

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I'm wanting to use my business as a way of donating X amount of money when i hit X margins.

10,000 dollars reached in profits, donate 2000 to charity scenario.

Because it is a business i don't know if its best i work with a foundation or charity directly or just donate every time i hit a threshold. My business in london does marginal donations once i hit thresholds, so now im state side it's more of do i do the same? Because the money is coming out the business to donate to charity how is it notified in end of year taxes. I want to assume its all the same, but ive noticed some differences in how things work over here.

Uproar said:

I'm wanting to use my business as a way of donating X amount of money when i hit X margins.

10,000 dollars reached in profits, donate 2000 to charity scenario.

Because it is a business i don't know if its best i work with a foundation or charity directly or just donate every time i hit a threshold. My business in london does marginal donations once i hit thresholds, so now im state side it's more of do i do the same? Because the money is coming out the business to donate to charity how is it notified in end of year taxes. I want to assume its all the same, but ive noticed some differences in how things work over here.

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You want a mention for the donation?

Stavro said:

What exactly did you say that brought about a refusal? Somehow I'm doubtful that any charity would refuse a no-strings-attached donation...

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this is their response in an email

Thank you for reaching out to Wounded Warrior Project. We appreciate your interest in serving the veterans, families, and caregivers we serve! There are different paths to take depending on how you plan on fundraising and/or promoting your support. Cause-related marketing campaigns are when a donation is promoted as being based on the sale of a product or service. For example, “For every widget sold, we will donate 10% to charity ‘x’ or “We will give 5% of sales to charity ‘x’.” These campaigns are highly regulated at the state and federal levels and require a lot of resources. Due to the number of financial, time and legal resources necessary for this type of campaign, we are limited in the number we can enter into and cannot currently accommodate these types of campaigns.



We’d love to have you register as fundraiser with us, but simply refrain from using cause-marketing language. Two examples of company-based events are a round up at register event, where people can make a donation through your point of sale to WWP, or a campaign period benefitting WWP where you tell people you are supporting WWP and you encourage your customers to support WWP, too. You can also simply state that you support WWP and refrain from messaging that your support is tied to the purchase of any products.

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They will accept support and donations every which way, but won't accept me campaigning that my business would support donations towards them.

BassTrackerBoats said:

You want a mention for the donation?

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No, i dont need credit 'This business has raised X amount for us'. I've worked in charity shops in london growing up, and it's a thing close to my heart, i just want to do it the right way here state side and so i can deal with taxes correctly here too.

Just make the donation using the link I shared. You can use your CC receipt for the tax deal.

BTW, I think it is certainly commendable what you want to do.

Uproar said:

No, i dont need credit 'This business has raised X amount for us'. I've worked in charity shops in london growing up, and it's a thing close to my heart, i just want to do it the right way here state side and so i can deal with taxes correctly here too.

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I'd talk with some local charities in person near you. Sounds easier.

-ThopHayt

BassTrackerBoats said:

Just make the donation using the link I shared. You can use your CC receipt for the tax deal.

BTW, I think it is certainly commendable what you want to do.

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Thank you, I will attempt to go this route, and see where it gets me in terms of trouble with the Charities.

ThopHayt said:

I'd talk with some local charities in person near you. Sounds easier.

-ThopHayt

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It's certainly something i thought of locally, in terms of the Dog shelters at least.

Uproar said:

Thank you, I will attempt to go this route, and see where it gets me in terms of trouble with the Charities.

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There won't be an issue; in fact my wife and I have given to that particular charity in the past using their online link.

Thanks OP for wanting to help out the WW project. Resources well allocated.

Uproar said:

They will accept support and donations every which way, but won't accept me campaigning that my business would support donations towards them.

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I'm not seeing anything unusual in their reply. They don't want their name used to drive sales of your product, but they are specifically allowing you to use generic language indicating your support. How much you donate, if anything, is entirely up to you, the only refusal is on the specific wording of "x% of your sale will be donated to WWP".

Cause Related Marketing are almost always regulated - if you don't find any information on that topic search for the term "Commercial Co-Venture". That's the deal here in India too.

The only difference between that v/s regular donation is the "campaign" bit.

Scenario A - Cause Marketing

You say, for every product sold you'll donate $1 to WW. You plaster this in your ad campaigns - you say so on your website. This is a virtual pledge that happens with the agreement of WW.

Your buyers know that if they buy 10 Units from you, they're effectively giving $10 to WW - a cause they may support.

At the end of the time cycle, you manage to sell 1000 units - so you effectively have to donate $1000

You also have to set a maximum and minimum to the charity you're giving too. Plus there needs to be proof of sale.

In return, you get to use the WW logo etc.

Scenario B - Non-Cause Marketing

You actually wish to donate. So depending on how much you make, at the end of the month or year, you simply log on to the charity's website and make a business donation for said amount and then claim a tax deductible.

You cannot use the charity's logo here or claim any sort of partnership with said charity.

Here's why commercial co-ventures are not allowed by most charities -

- They have to verify that your business is in Good standing.
- They have to verify that your accounts are not fudged and have clean audits, thus paying everything as needed.
- They need to manually approve every creative/graphic/website/print work that is issued by your company using their branding.
- They have to ensure you adhere to the various Charity Accountability guidelines (such as the ones by BBB and the likes)
- They have to ensure that your business isn't claiming that the said charity endorses your products.
- They have to ensure you're free from controversies and don't have a certain political leaning.

This requires a ton of due diligence and a lot of man hours and resources. So if your donation valuation is on the lower end, the due-diligence alone overrides your donations and isn't of much help to the charity.

You may be an honest man with an honest business, but you have to understand that there are several unscrupulous tradesman, who, if this area is non-regulated can claim endorsement to push their products or agenda.

//

So your best bet is to not make any proclamations and go with Scenario B. You can highlight the donation once it has been made via your social channels and/or a blog post with a disclaimer that you have no commercial co-venture with said charity and that the donation is purely out of good faith.

If you make regular donations and build a healthy rapport with said charities, you can then opt for a commercial co-venture, if they agree to it.

BlogPro said:

Cause Related Marketing are almost always regulated - if you don't find any information on that topic search for the term "Commercial Co-Venture". That's the deal here in India too.

The only difference between that v/s regular donation is the "campaign" bit.

Scenario A - Cause Marketing

You say, for every product sold you'll donate $1 to WW. You plaster this in your ad campaigns - you say so on your website. This is a virtual pledge that happens with the agreement of WW.

Your buyers know that if they buy 10 Units from you, they're effectively giving $10 to WW - a cause they may support.

At the end of the time cycle, you manage to sell 1000 units - so you effectively have to donate $1000

You also have to set a maximum and minimum to the charity you're giving too. Plus there needs to be proof of sale.

In return, you get to use the WW logo etc.

Scenario B - Non-Cause Marketing

You actually wish to donate. So depending on how much you make, at the end of the month or year, you simply log on to the charity's website and make a business donation for said amount and then claim a tax deductible.

You cannot use the charity's logo here or claim any sort of partnership with said charity.

Here's why commercial co-ventures are not allowed by most charities -

- They have to verify that your business is in Good standing.
- They have to verify that your accounts are not fudged and have clean audits, thus paying everything as needed.
- They need to manually approve every creative/graphic/website/print work that is issued by your company using their branding.
- They have to ensure you adhere to the various Charity Accountability guidelines (such as the ones by BBB and the likes)
- They have to ensure that your business isn't claiming that the said charity endorses your products.
- They have to ensure you're free from controversies and don't have a certain political leaning.

This requires a ton of due diligence and a lot of man hours and resources. So if your donation valuation is on the lower end, the due-diligence alone overrides your donations and isn't of much help to the charity.

You may be an honest man with an honest business, but you have to understand that there are several unscrupulous tradesman, who, if this area is non-regulated can claim endorsement to push their products or agenda.

//

So your best bet is to not make any proclamations and go with Scenario B. You can highlight the donation once it has been made via your social channels and/or a blog post with a disclaimer that you have no commercial co-venture with said charity and that the donation is purely out of good faith.

If you make regular donations and build a healthy rapport with said charities, you can then opt for a commercial co-venture, if they agree to it.

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This was a fantastic read and super helpful!

to touch base on your last comments, would you say that making it aware the business does provide charitable funding to 'charity A' 'Charity b" 'charity c' but not endorsed or work with them be a viable comment to make? I'd just like people to know their money is going to a charity because, some people who make purchases may be against a charity the business funds, and i may lose customers however i know i'd gain customers with people who know its going to good causes also.

Uproar said:

This was a fantastic read and super helpful!

to touch base on your last comments, would you say that making it aware the business does provide charitable funding to 'charity A' 'Charity b" 'charity c' but not endorsed or work with them be a viable comment to make? I'd just like people to know their money is going to a charity because, some people who make purchases may be against a charity the business funds, and i may lose customers however i know i'd gain customers with people who know its going to good causes also.

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Either give or don't give; the whole X amount of your dollars are going to charity is such garbage in my mind and we give a ton to charity.

We just don't give to those that want to toot their own horn.

Uproar said:

hey all BHW members,

I'm looking to start giving profitable margins to charities which mean alot to me!
I actually already contacted the Wounded Warriors Project, which to my dismay have refused me, as the resources needed are of a High federal and state level....apparently my forecast of marginal profits did not sate their hunger much.


Im looking to donate % based profits to 2 types of charities,

one is for veterans who are homeless, and families of wounded/deceased servicemen and women.
two is for dogs, im not a huge animal lover but i love dogs and every dog i own/owned has been rescued.

However i'm from england living in the USA now so all of these charities i would have known are now new to me.

Does anyone know how difficult it will be for me to be able to donate to a charity considering the response i got from the wounded warrior project, and also does anyone have any charities they would recommend from my two types above, taking all recommendations to look in to them and contact them to better survey the charities themselves and where my donations go.

Click to expand...

They certainly would not refuse a donation, unless you are looking for some sort of partnership or link.
You can donate on their webform, if you are legit and seriously facing an issue (weird though and very very unlikely) I can ask our project manager to reach out to the WWP folks we worked with.

I suggest armymen, martyr's dependents and children.

Uproar said:

This was a fantastic read and super helpful!

to touch base on your last comments, would you say that making it aware the business does provide charitable funding to 'charity A' 'Charity b" 'charity c' but not endorsed or work with them be a viable comment to make? I'd just like people to know their money is going to a charity because, some people who make purchases may be against a charity the business funds, and i may lose customers however i know i'd gain customers with people who know its going to good causes also.

Click to expand...

A non-regulated claim will get you a cease and desist from a charity.

Making it known well after the fact that the donation was made is a different ball game.

So a blog post or an email such as

//

"BusinessName has donated $4632.22 to the Wounded Warrior Project in June 2018"

At BusinessName, we believe in the joy of giving. A ideology embedded deep into the hearts and minds of our founders and of everyone else associated with us.

At BusinessName, we have always cared for our veterans. Men and Women, who've served the front-lines of our nation without caring for their lives.

During the start of the year, we took a pledge to donate xx% of every sale to a charity of our choice.

In the month of June 2018, the amount came up to $4632.22. And so, a donation for the same was made to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Please find below the confirmation for the same. The same can be verified with the WW project.

<img here>

Please note that this donation has been made 100% voluntarily and we are in no way associated with the Wounded Warrior Project or any of its sister charities. The kind folks at Wounded Warrior projects do not endorse or recommend any of BusinessName's products. And finally, no exchange of goods, services or funds have taken place between BusinessName and the Wounded Warrior project other than the amount mentioned above.

We'd like to thank all of our customers for being a part of this. Veterans form the backbone of every society, as they have ensured our safety for times unknown. This little drop in the ocean is our way of giving back.

If you'd like to learn more about the Wounded Warrior Project - Visit there website here - Link

You can also make a voluntary donation by going here - Link

Thank you,
John Doe
CEO
Business Name

//

If you're in touch with them via email - I'd recommend sharing the above copy (along with the disclaimer) with them and taking approval from them before publication.

Cheers

Remember, claiming that you're "donating X to Y Charity" - even with a disclaimer - requires regulatory confirmation from the charity.

If the charity is real close to you, you have absolutely no need to even make the above post. Just donate, claim deductibles and move on.