Charitable Giving
Posted on 5th, February 2012
We pride ourselves as a nation on our charitable giving. We are, by and large, a charitable lot. It has been established by surveys that some 75 percent of us regularly give money to charity. Perhaps we consider it as a duty, or maybe we just feel empathy for those less fortunate than ourselves, and we want to help. Whatever the reason, it seems that whenever the collection tin is shaken under our noses, or immediate reaction is to dip our hand into our pocket and come out with loose change, which is then dropped willingly into the tin.
There are other ways of charitable giving. We seem to be conditioned to accept that those of us who have should give something to those who have not. That's what charities are set up for. They are there to help a cause that needs helping. It can be for people, or it can be for old buildings that need to be saved, or it can be for unfortunate animals who have been subjected to some kind of cruelty.
All of these charities depend on charitable giving for their very survival. They are not core funded by some government department. They do not receive wages from some higher power. They do receive their money from the likes of ordinary people just like you. Some very rich establishments give generously to charity. Some very rich individuals give generously to charities too, but by and large it's the ordinary people who don't always have a lot to give who are the ones who do best at charitable giving.
One thing most of us are unaware of is the interesting fact that the money we give to charities can be tax deductible. This means that we can give a certain amount and that's that! The amount is not subject to tax. Say, for example, you want to give £100 a month to charity, and you also had to pay tax on that amount too. Your £100 would actually cost you that amount, plus whatever the tax rate was. If you only wanted to spend £100 a month on charities - and you had to pay tax in the process - it would mean that the charity would only get around £80 or so. However, with tax relief on all your charitable giving that you can prove, everyone - except the tax man - wins.
Perhaps the best way to give to charity is to leave them something in your will. Leaving a legacy to a charity can be free of tax as well. Once your family has been provided adequately for, leave something to a favourite charity if you can. This is in many ways the most effective way of charitable giving you can do.
