Paging non-profit guru's

[ILLMAS]

I don't know what came first, if the egg or the chicken, but a colleague stomped me with this questions, if someone donates $50 online to a NFP agency and the donee is charged for the $50 + a $2 processing fee (fee is kept by the processing agency),  what should the NFP agency report as a donation income?  The $50 or $52?  I say the $50, since the $2 is not an expense of the agency, the client he is working with is reporting the $52 as a donation and we both disagree that amount.   Your thoughts?

 

Thanks

 

[Gail in Virginia]

I did not see a cite that I would consider authoritative in a quick Google search.  But my opinion would be that the entire amount is deductible.  If the donation were made directly to the charity, and they paid a fee to process the payment, I would not expect them to reduce the amount of my donation receipt by what it cost them to process the payment.  Therefore, the fact that a third party allows the donor to elect to pay that fee rather than charging it to the charitable organization should not mean that the donor can not deduct that amount of the contribution.  Interesting question, and I would be curious if someone has a more reliable answer than my opinion.

[ILLMAS]

I found this (don't know if it's a reputable source):

https://www.quora.com/A-charitable-501-c-3-receives-donations-via-PayPal-The-donors-want-to-deduct-the-donations-from-their-taxes-Can-the-501-c-3-issue-a-donation-receipt-for-the-entire-amount-that-the-donor-has-paid-or-do-they-need-to

 

[Lee B]

I made a $ 100 donation with my credit card to a charity last year plus they asked for additional $ 4 to cover their  processing costs, which I paid.

The official receipt that I received was for $ 104. IMHO, this charity received $ 104, which is revenue that needs to be recorded.

[Abby Normal]

1 hour ago, ILLMAS said:

donee is charged

I think you mean 'donor'.

[ILLMAS]

1 hour ago, Abby Normal said:

I think you mean 'donor'.

Good catch, thanks.