Charitable contributions: interactions between individuals and exempt organizations

By Paige Gerich, partner, BKD

U.S. charities receive a significant portion of donor dollars from individual donors.

So it is important for individual donors to understand the different types of charitable donations and factors affecting the deductibility of those donations.

In 1917, Congress passed the first major beneficial legislation for individual charitable contributions -- a federal income tax deduction.

Charitable donation deduction requirements are outlined in Internal Revenue Code Section 170, Charitable, etc., Contributions and Gifts. It states the charitable donation deduction for individual donors in any given year is limited to either 20 percent, 30 percent or 50 percent of their contribution base, depending on the type of property donated and recipient's public charity status. Read more.