It’s party time. Invitations and “save-the-dates” for this year’s charity events and benefits are on their way.
But how do you choose which ones to attend? In the past, my due diligence consisted of scanning the committee list to see if I recognized and liked the names. If I did, then I assumed it would be a fun party for a good cause.
This approach seemed to work just fine until a few weeks ago, when the host of a charity event leaned down and whispered in my ear “the party cost a lot more than we expected, so there wasn’t anything left to give away.” Huh? Fortunately I wasn’t counting on the tax deduction.
I realized that if I wanted fundraising events to be a real form of charitable giving and not just a mark on my social calendar then I ought to create a better process for picking which ones to attend. With the help of a philanthropy consultant, the executive of a non-profit and our cousins at The Wall Street Journal, I developed a simple five-step plan for becoming a more responsible and informed party-goer.
Please add your own steps in the comments. (more…)
One of my sisters checks her investments and cleans her financial house in December. The other one prefers to sip hot toddies and leave organization and thank-you notes for the new year. Funny thing is that both approaches could prove costly during tax season. Make sure to avoid these common tax mistakes whether you’re relaxing or making Excel spreadsheets over the next few days:
Busy-Bee Errors:
1) Buying mutual funds that pay dividends at year end Many funds distribute dividends to investors in December. Think you should buy in right before the payout? Not so fast.
Usually the share price of the fund drops by the same amount of the payout, so investors are not truly collecting anything here. They are paying taxes though; the IRS treats these dividends as taxable gains. If you want to buy a new fund before December 31st then call the fund company and make sure the fund isn’t about to pay a big dividend. (more…)
This week I spent an hour of my time on a site called FreeRice.com. In that hour, I donated 730 grains of rice to hunger-stricken areas in underdeveloped countries after answering 73 multiple-choice vocabulary questions correctly.
FreeRice is the brainchild of John Breen, founder of Poverty.com and TheHungerSite.com. The concept here is ridiculously simple:
- You answer multiple choice questions that test your vocabulary
- Advertisers pay FreeRice to place ads on the web pages alongside the questions
- The advertisers’ money pays for the rice
- The more questions you answer—and the more ads you eyeball—the more rice you’re able donate
Unlike most other charities, you don’t have to spend any money in order to help alleviate hunger. All you need is your brilliant vocabulary. (more…)
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