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I doubt that this will be a popular opinion, but ....
If someone donated to a charity of their choice in my name, I would hardly consider it a great gift. I actually fail to see how it would be a gift for me at all. The charity gets the loot. The giver gets the good feelings that go along with picking a charity and giving them money. The recipient gets what - a little tax break? Heck, you could at least let them pick the charity so they can get a little bit of that ooey-gooey do-gooder feeling out of it, couldn't ya?
LOL! Well, actually, the giver would get the tax break, right?
I agree - best to give to a charity (as a gift for someone else) if the recipient being honored w/ the donation has stated that he/she has a charity he/she wants to support and wants others to donate to it. Otherwise, it looks like the donor is pretty much just working towards maxing out their tax deduction for charitable gifts.
I love some of these ideas! I make my own Christmas cards (been doing it for 10 years and I even sell at craft shows), and some gifts as well. I love to make gifts!
Just a note.........Before you give anyone a lottery ticket, make sure they are not like me! I never, ever win anything and I would be extremely annoyed to get a lottery ticket as a gift. I would rather you spent the buck on a candy bar, which I still don't need, but at least I would have SOMEthing for my present!!
I love some of these ideas! I make my own Christmas cards (been doing it for 10 years and I even sell at craft shows), and some gifts as well. I love to make gifts!
Just a note.........Before you give anyone a lottery ticket, make sure they are not like me! I never, ever win anything and I would be extremely annoyed to get a lottery ticket as a gift. I would rather you spent the buck on a candy bar, which I still don't need, but at least I would have SOMEthing for my present!!
I love getting hand made Christmas cards. My sister does beautiful cards and every so often, she will give me several note cards w/ envelopes as a gift. I love getting (and using) the notecards. I bet most folks would be thrilled to get handmade notecards, especially from someone like you, ROTHBEAR, who is really good at coming up with lovely designs.
I use lottery tickets as stocking stuffers and had never thought that the recipient may prefer some other small gift! I am gonna remember this! M&Ms may be the better thing to give!
LOL! Well, actually, the giver would get the tax break, right?
I agree - best to give to a charity (as a gift for someone else) if the recipient being honored w/ the donation has stated that he/she has a charity he/she wants to support and wants others to donate to it. Otherwise, it looks like the donor is pretty much just working towards maxing out their tax deduction for charitable gifts.
No! The receipt is made out in the name of the person to receive the gift. That receipt goes in the Christmas/gift card. The person receiving the gift gets the tax deduction.
No! The receipt is made out in the name of the person to receive the gift. That receipt goes in the Christmas/gift card. The person receiving the gift gets the tax deduction.
Then that is not the way I have made contributions in honor of someone else, and it is not the way anyone has ever made contributions in honor of me, either.
What you are talking about is making a contribution ON BEHALF OF someone else. Most folks make a contribution and have "in memory of" or "in honor of" attached to a card, but no info is taken to return a receipt with the honored person's name, address, etc - and thus give credit for the monetary value of the contribution - to the honored person/family. Unless the non-profit org takes the info of the person/family who is the recipient of the gift being made on their behalf, the GIVER's name is the only one registered w/ the organization as a contributor. Of course, if you have a different arrangement with the non profit organization, then it could be worked out so the recipient (honored person) could claim the tax deduction. But that takes paperwork on their end.
And a recipient could only benefit from the tax deduction if they itemize on their tax returns - and the organization has to be one approved by the IRS guidelines for charitable organizations. This link provides helpful info, including info on organizations considered charitable for tax purposes . . . and info about substantiation requirements for contributions to charitable organizations.
I am not a scrooge at all, in fact I loooooove to give others gifts and treats and randomly make people happy, but I would prefer not to get a gift at all than to get something homemade or cheap. Let me explain. I am super picky about the things I want or need, and probably 99% of the time I will either take a gift back or give it away to someone else. If it's homemade it goes in the trash. It's not that I'm not grateful, it's just that I don't want something that I don't want. I don't like having a bunch of crap lying around. I have been to three parties so far this year with those $10 gift exchanges and I participated in the first one then dropped out of the other two. In the first one I got some coasters. I don't want or need coasters, and I wouldn't buy them for myself. I gave them away to my neighbor, and was irritated at the fact that I had wasted $10.
So I know that sounds jerky, but really the reason I would prefer not to receive a gift is because I care about my friends and family and I don't want them to be the recipients of my strange, negative feelings about gifts. Now I've been exposed...the only one who already knew about this was my husband.
^^^^^^^my mother was this way. She considered homemade gifts tacky. One year, I did not have a lot of money, so, I taught myself how to sew (with the help of some neighbours) and made her a beautiful Christmas tree skirt, reversible with a ruffle. (not easy for the novice seamstress). I worked about 6 months or so on that tree skirt.
I think that she threw it away because it was never seen again apart from when I packed it in a box to send to her. (I was living in coastal NC at the time)
eek! sorry Chicago. I didn't mean to dredge up a terrible memory for you. I should have clarified b/c by homemade I meant food items, not hand sewn something or others. I definitely would have kept the tree skirt, even if it looked horrible! Learning how to sew and taking the time to make something like that would mean more to me than some stale cookies or a crappy gift from the store.
When I was in my 20s, paying my own way through college and newly engaged (also paying for my own wedding), I brought my fiance home for Christmas to meet my family. I didn't have a DIME, and worked in a touristy area, so taking off at the holidays was at a cost for me. I didn't bring gifts for anyone, and I told the whole family to leave me out because I couldn't get them anything. Of course they all got presents not only for me, but for my fiance as well. As we were packing up to leave, my stepmother pulled me aside and told me in the fiercest tone possible "don't even THINK about coming up here for Christmas again without presents for EVERY SINGLE PERSON." she told me I was an adult and there was no excuse.
I have not spent a single holiday with my family since, and since my father died I have not spoken to my stepmother. Sigh. I guess we all have our holiday skeletons that should stay in the closet.
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