If you give them an inch they'll take a mile.
My mailbox, E-mail inbox, and phone sims are being invaded by Non-Profits asking for donations on a daily, almost minute by minute basis. It is tiring and it makes me have a bad attitude about anyone asking me for money for this or that cause.
The list is endless. The church, the schools, the political campaigns, the activist groups, the well established and the newly formed are all involved in this constant ask for money. Everything you join is involved in raising funds. I'm not saying it is wrong. I am saying that it can be overwhelming. Plus, even when you give the next letter is already in the mail asking you to give again because these campaigns are planned out 3 to 6 months into the future.
I am no tax expert but the IRS.gov site says the standard deduction for individuals is $14,600, $29,200 for married couples, and $21,900 for heads of households (not sure what that means and am too lazy to look into it). In addition to those figures are all of the rules about the different levels of each gift and what kind of gifts have what level of deduction possible.
In essence, what the entire tax ramifications on giving implies is that all non-profit organizations are subsidized by the government in a passive way through the cost of lost tax revenue.
Political contributions are not tax deductible as a general rule. I must say however, that the giving in the political world in the United States is highly questionable. I clearly don't know enough about it to comment about the details but in my mind the ability for mega wealthy people and corporations obviously throw their weight around in order to influence voters and politicians. The 'PAC' scheme wreaks to high heaven of corruption but I guess to play with the big boys you gotta have the big bucks. Money wins elections, that much is clear, and it is morally wrong, especially in the United States of America.
People talk a lot about socialism and the redistribution of wealth as well as the use of public tax funds to sponsor non-profit types of institutions. I am not really equipped to comment on this discussion deeply, but it begs asking if the non-profit doesn't end up costing American citizens more money than if the government paid for these things straight out and rethink the non-profit model. The only reliable argument to be made is that a private non-profit must manage its money to be able to stay in business, while a government run entity may not be as responsible with funds.
Americans are incredible givers. The numbers are staggering. The philanthropy from major contributors has created many great institutions and causes in the United States. Warren Buffet says he will give his fortune to charities when he dies. I attended the Eastman School of Music funded by the Eastman Kodak mogul George Eastman. Andrew Carnegie built libraries all across the country. The list goes on and one and clearly we should be grateful for this sort of philanthropy.
But it is also the giving that comes from people who don't really have enough money to give that donate a higher percentage of their net worth than the mega wealthy. The grandmother who donates monthly to her church, or the grandfather who donates to his alma mater's scholarship fund.
The math involved in figuring how much any given person should donate is quite involved. While I have no question that people are generous at heart I do question the morality of asking low income people for donations for any cause. They won't reach the deductible limit so their donations won't make a different in the taxes they pay. They get no reward for donating.
Political campaigns are expensive. It is perverse the amount of money that goes down the tubes for elections. Of course one could argue that the money spent helps the economy in certain ways, but it is difficult to see a $2 billion dollar campaign when a large portion of that is spend on TV ads. The candidate with the most mud slinging money wins.
But, one thing is certain. Big money will buy elections. Now, you may be okay with that. But, I am not. Why? Because American Democracy, if such a thing can continue to exist, is based on the idea that "All men are created equal." (or: All people are created equal. This statement actually has less to do with race or sex than it has to do with into which family you are born, in other words, it refers to the monarchy.) We don't have 'Royalty' in America, but we do have the mega rich which in a way has the same power that the autocracies of the past once held.
The bottom line is this: If you want to have any real "vote" in American Politics, you are going to have to pay for it as well as vote for it. That means, yes, even if you don't have much money, your donations to candidates you want to represent you is all important in their ability to win an election.
A candidates ability to raise money is paramount in their ability to win an election. If your candidate has no money, your candidate probably won't win.
Political affiliations guarantee a candidate's war chest. It is my belief that the major reason why many politicians are in the Republican Party is to be able to access the funds available to them. In Kentucky, if you aren't a Republican, funded by the Republican Party's vast treasure chest of donations and individual wealth of their donors and candidates, you probably don't stand a chance at winning. Money is King and Queen of the dance. A perception that Money = Power is strongly held in Kentucky. A poor person will vote for a rich person before a normal person because they are attracted by the glitz. What they don't realize is that the interests of the wealthy have nothing in common with the needs of the normal or poor person.
So, like it or not, if anyone else is to stand a chance at the ballot box, they must raise money. It is just a fact and the people where that money must come from are those who want to retake the power of the country, "We the people". When Musk can throw in $250 million into a campaign, this means that 5 million people must give $50 to counter that. Numbers don't lie. It isn't only the vote that counts, but the fund raising.
Regardless of all of this, there are many legit charities out there doing great work. But, keep in mind that even they have to make a profit to stay in business. They have to pay employees that run the business and it doesn't matter what kind of business you have, business expenses are the same for all businesses. It is just that non-profits rely a lot more on volunteers who give of their time and expertise to make a thing work.
Like I said in the beginning...it is all very tiring, complicated, and above all expensive. It pays to know and understand it.