response 75 of 115:

Feb 15 12:19 UTC 1999

I suspect that reading & responding to this item has taken more of Mark's time
than sending out a lot of receipts, though I could be wrong.  Think of all
the wasted electrons, too.

response 77 of 115:

Feb 15 15:20 UTC 1999

        Ditto.

response 79 of 115:

Feb 17 15:49 UTC 1999

Since the board will reconsider receipts, I made a few more calls.  NEW center
library is not there until 11.  American Lung always sends receipts but they
don't know if it is required.
        Call United Way and talked to Dennis O'Brien of financial and
information services.  (He was interested to hear about grex, has not used
the internet and thought he needed an ISP.  He may call us for a modem and
help signing on to grex.)  He has worked in the non-profit donations field
for 30 years, previously at Child and Family Services and at Cathlic Family
Services.  United Way is the most complicated because people donate not only
by check, but from their pay.  They can use paystubs combined with a pledge
cardd for proof of donating, or cancelled checks if they donate that way. 
United Way gets thousands of donations a year and never mails out a letter
of receipt to anyone donating under $250.  For donors over $250, he had never
heard that the nonprofit is required to mail receipts, but he knows that the
donors need receipts if they itemize on federal taxes, so they automatically
send out receipts to donors of $250 or more.
        Other donors who wish to itemize are only required by the IRS to save
a cancelled check.  DOnors of $250 get a letter stating that they received
no goods or services for their donation, which letter is required if you
itemize, but the organization is not required to send it if you don't ask for
it (They send them anyway).
        He repeated several times that United Way only sends receipts for $250
or more, and that he has never heard of any law requiring any nonprofits to
send receipts for any size donations, they just send them out for large
amounts anyway on the assumption that donors will want the receipts.

I therefore propose that the grex treasurer continue to send out email
receipts for donations of any size, and that these email receipts mention that
a paper receipt is available upon request, but that the IRS accepts cancelled
checks as proof of donations of amounts under $250.
        You may confirm this information with Dennis at the United Way in Ann
Arbor.  He does not know how to join coop conference (yet).

        If the treasurer wants to follow United Way policy and send out a paper
receipt to anyone who donates $250 or over in one year, whether or not they
request it, I will not object.  (BUt I will be sure never to donate $250).

        If anyone wants they can call the NEW center reference librarian after
11 am to cross-check this information.  Dennis O'Brien said that if he was
required to mail everyone who donated a paper receipt, he would have quit the
nonprofit business long ago, and that the IRS made their $250 rule to save
the nonprofits from wasting their donations by spending them on postage and
paper (and the treasurer's time).  He was surprised at our low budget.

response 81 of 115:

Feb 18 02:03 UTC 1999

Well, no, clearly we didn't get the same story from Ms. Dodea.

That sounds like pretty good info, Sindi, thanks for accumulating it.

response 83 of 115:

Feb 18 19:46 UTC 1999

Is it possible to ask Ms. Dodea where she got her information?  Some of the
places I called said they considered it good practice (but certainly not
mandatory) to send receipts for donations, but not for legal reasons, only
for reasons of publicity.  Maybe that is what Ms. Dodea was adamant about?
If she cannot point to any law requiring receipts, must we send them?

response 85 of 115:

Feb 18 21:19 UTC 1999

Re #82: I wasn't aware you put much stock in prophecy, Rane.  :)

response 87 of 115:

Feb 19 06:12 UTC 1999

It's a parable, which is a form of metaphor. I go for metaphors.

Slight correction, Steve. The IRS only requires that receipt for donations
of $250-up *if the donor wishes to deduct*. The $250 limit then controls
what the receipt must say. But, I'm part of the school that says send
receipts for every donation except dues (because the corporation has a
formal list of members, which can be used as proof). If it is such a
burden on people to receive an unwanted receipt - how about sending a nice
Grex decal with it, as a "thank you"?

response 89 of 115:

Feb 19 07:17 UTC 1999

E-mail, being plain text, would be much easier to alter without leaving a
trace than a paper receipt would.  E-mail as proof of anything is fairly
worthless.

response 91 of 115:

Feb 19 21:43 UTC 1999

That conflicts with the instructions for 1040, which says donors need to
be able to substantiate all donations.

response 93 of 115:

Feb 20 05:07 UTC 1999

I suspect that in part unclear answers are given to unclear questions. There
are so many parameters about deductible contributions that it takes pages
to explain them even roughly. The IRS answer saying consult publication
so-and-so was the best answer. Form 1040 are a poor person's substitute,
especially for such ridiculously small amounts of money are are being
discussed here. I save all my receipt for travel on behalf of non-profits,
which are deductible expenses, and I *know* someone that was audited and
had to produce their receipts for toll road tolls, etc, to get the
deduction (I think it was just a test to see if the person had at least
some of such receipt related to the claimed expenses).

response 95 of 115:

Feb 21 04:18 UTC 1999

   I'm afraid Pete is right.

response 97 of 115:

Feb 24 19:41 UTC 1999

I talked with Mark last night.  He showed me a page from the IRS stating that
nonprofits must be able to prove that donations of $75 or over were not for
services received, that may be where the $75 figure came from.  He also said
that Ms. Dodea insisted on the paper receipts (if I understood correctly) as
a way of proving on paper where donations came from.  Since the paper receipts
are being mailed to donors rather than kept by grex, this did not seem to me
to constitute proof of where donations came from, in case of an IRS audit of
grex.  So I suggested that Mark keep photocopies of checks over $75, or better
yet of all checks.  We therefore came up with a technological solution in the
form of getting him a photocopier that had been looking for a home.  We
brought it over and installed it on top of the file cabinet and ran some pages
through to eliminate the dark smudges that were the result of toner getting
out during shipping (driving), and he can now photocopy all the incoming
checks before depositing them each month, at least six to a page.  The copier
may also be usable for printing out grex user manuals (free until the toner
runs out).  It will save Mark the need to go to the copy shop occasionally.
        So we all seem to be agreed that donors do not need paper receipts for
amounts under $250, but grex is supposed to be keeping paper records of
donations of $75 or above.  
        I therefore propose that the rules be amended as follows:
        All donors will be sent email receipts, informed that the IRS requires
paper receipts for amounts of $250 or up but that otherwise a cancelled check
is considered adequate proof of a donation in case you are itemizing on your
federal income tax, and that paper receipts will be mailed to anyone who
requests one.
        The grex treasurer will keep photocopies of all donations of $75 or
more.  Donors will be urged to write on their checks what they are for -
membership donations, other donations, or purchase of t-shirts, etc.  At
his/her discretion, the treasurer may keep photocopies of all checks.  Mark
felt that he would be held personally responsible in the case of an audit and
would like to keep as detailed records as possible.  It is also to the benefit
of donors who plan to itemize to write on their checks what they are for.

Mark, please correct any of the above.  

response 99 of 115:

Feb 26 16:12 UTC 1999

For the IRS, any kind of e-mail, printed or not, will be meaningless for
these purposes, I'm sure.