I worked at my local food bank yesterday. This is a great job and I have been volunteering there since last May. I’m a part-time secretary and mostly make appointments for new clients and schedule existing clients for services. Since I work full time but just 3 days a week, they schedule me on an as-needed basis and just call when they are short. Since I’m usually available, this works out great for both of us.
We provide food up to 3 times a year (5 times right now thanks to a special grant), financial aid (one time a year), psychiatric counseling (8 free appointments every week! Always full!), school supplies, a Christmas store, and have 2 resale shops that we can use to provide clothing or furniture for people in need. Last year we were able to give away 3 donated cars! I am very impressed with this small but well run organization.
I am always pleasantly surprised at how many people just walk in with donations. Part of my job is to pleasantly accept donations and provide a receipt.
Last week a girl scout troop came in with a nice donation. They were so cute! They were about 9-10 years old. Each girl fund raised $15.00, then teamed up with another girl for a $30.00 budget and were taken shopping. They had to think about what to buy, budget, shop for useful bargains and pay for their goods all on their own (supervised by the troop leader), and were justifiably proud of their mad shopping skilz. It was easy to value their donation since it was 5 teams with $30.00 each. I took them on a small tour of the office and warehouse. Kids always enjoy the warehouse.
Yesterday, two ladies from our local area Tea Party came in with a donation. They gave me 2 ten dollar gift cards and 3 bags of groceries. Their holiday party entry required a canned good donation. When I asked them to state the value of their donation so I could write it on their receipt, they decided between themselves that the value of the donation was $200.00. I was surprised at that valuation, but wrote it on the receipt anyway. They took pictures of themselves doing their good deed and then left.
The groceries were in paper bags and contained canned goods. With the gift cards, the value of their donation was more like $50-65 dollars at most.
They were almost as excited about their donation as the girl scouts were! I certainly appreciate their donation, but am not so impressed with their ‘donation inflation’.
So I supposed they identified themselves as members of the Tea Party–but was the receipt in the name of the party, or was it made out to the individuals? Were they explicitly doing this as a party function?
I approve of a) the way the non-profit in the OP seems to be set up and run, and b) how the Girl Scout troupe handled their donation by making it a teaching experience for the little ones (win-win!) but will withhold any political comments until further information is provided.
Mild hijack for the OP: Learning experience aside, would it be better for the Girl Scouts (or anyone else) just to donate cash to the food bank instead of buying groceries? I would think that the food bank would be able to buy food more cheaply and would do a better job of identifying what food would be most needed.
Wouldn’t the Tea Party be a non-profit anyway, hence the write-off is not really relevant*, or am I missing something?
I suppose it offsets their income as an “expense” and thus helps them balance but it’s not really helping them avoid taxes as it would for me. I think those old shirts and pants I donated to Goodwill last month were worth $1,000,000.
That’s so disappointing. Where I’m volunteering we get in a LOT from the various churches and organizations. I’ve been impressed by some of the local Southern Baptist congregations. They really bring in the food and toiletries. I don’t know about Tea Party organizations but most of the churches are very conservative.
We have a warehouse for food donations and give out “baskets” on the holidays to those in need. I think we have more luck with food than cash donations. Maybe seeing what you’re really doing for someone is more inspiring than writing a check? This week has been hectic as we have a toy giveaway, Christmas food baskets and safety space heaters and electric blankets for the elderly.
The pantry where I work provides food as its primary mission, so all food is welcome. We do buy food and also receive food from a larger food bank in the area. Recently, I signed for receiving a delivery of potatoes, apples and onions that the pantry purchased. Later that day, some frozen chicken came in to the warehouse too, but I don’t know if it was a purchase, supply from the big bank, or donation because I left before the delivery was completed. The warehouse looks like a little Sams’ or Costco- very organized, clean and up-to-date.
I do know one thing they really like to get is paper products (toilet paper, sanitary napkins), personal items such as toothpaste and shampoo, and dog and cat food (and kitty litter). These items are not able to be purchased using food stamps (its not actually called ‘food stamps’ anymore).
When the pantry gets bulk items like toilet paper or pet food, they have a team break the product down into smaller units.
I had one lady on the senior program call to complain that she did not get any bread or sweets. Those items are not always available as far as I can tell.
I don’t know why or even if they ‘needed’ a receipt. I’ve been instructed to give everyone a receipt. Partly to show they did deliver the items, and partly to show we received them.
Because the individuals will likely add the receipt to their individual tax records. Not legally of course, but then again, recording $200 worth of food when its $60 isn’t legal. Although they also may want the receipt to show the organization that they did deliver the goods, not stock their own pantry.
Donations of goods is one of the last great fraud opportunities in tax. Charities usually give you a blank receipt. You keep the records and do the valuations.