Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

In an effort to assist you in understanding charities in general, we have developed this page of frequently asked questions (FAQ). We are certain it will help you with your decisions.

Will my donation be deductable from my taxes?
What age bracket group and class group comprises the charitable donors
Is giving "good" for you??
Who is "PayPal"?
In relation to your promise to protect our email, do you offer free email to each new contributor?
How do I choose which charity to contribute to if I so desire to?
Who do you want to help?
Will you accept "Missions" work?
How do I check a "NEWER" charity out?
What must I do to deduct my contributions to charity to the IRS?

Will my donation be deductable from my taxes?

If you itemize. If you are in the 33% tax bracket, giving $100 will be $67. As your tax bracket increases, your decution will reduce in value to correspond with your bracket. As families become dual-working families with children and a home charging interest, most people will itemize.

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What age bracket group and class group comprises the charitable donors

Working age Americans (35-64) who make $50,000 to $100,000 a year are two to six times more generous in the share ofinvestment assets to charity than those Americans who make more than $10 Millon. These figures are from a study of federal tax data. The least generous are the young and the properous the study shows. The working age Americans gave an average of 2.5% compared to 0.4% by the rich group. (see www.newtithing.org for more information). The total giving by Americans was $180.6 billion in 2003 when the study was completed.

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Is giving "good" for you??

Yes, according to a Fox News study. "Giving our time and money to others tends to have significant implications for our individual wellbeing and that of our local communities and nation". The story continues "Charitable giving is associated with higher levels of health and happiness, increased properity and strong community organizations". Researcher Arthur Brooks in his book notes that people who give more charitably are 43% more likely to say they are "very happy" than are non-givers who are 3 1/2 times more likely to say they are "not happy at all".Mr. Brooks research found that each dollar given in charity was was associated with $4.35 in extra income. His book is titled "Who really cares: The surprising truth about compassionate conservatism".

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Who is "PayPal"?

PayPal is our choice of ways for you to contribute. It is a safe, secure method of making contributions on-line. The PayPal system is at 100 million accounts (just like you and me), growing at the rate of 104,500 a day. They are processing $8.1 billion dollars in every quarter ($36.4 billion a year). Yes, as part of the administrative costs, PayPal charges a small percentage per transaction dollar, but your security is of primary importance as well as competetive with others. As an added bonus, PayPal is very active in fraud protection as an strong effort in protecting your credit/debit card information.

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In relation to your promise to protect our email, do you offer free email to each new contributor?

Yes. When you ask us, we will set up an email with your name or whatever you choose (providing someone else is not using that name). It would look like "thesmiths@povertyschild.com". I would assign you a password to get into your email and then you would change that password to one of your selection. You can use this email for any email you wish, it does not tie only to our site, it would function as a regular email account for you. A good feature of the email is "blacklist". When you select a spam message and click on blacklist, that prohibits that particular web address from re-entering your email account. The email sites are provided by "Horde" (http://webmail.opentransfer.com/horde/imp/)

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How do I choose which charity to contribute to if I so desire to?

Research. Feelings. Your understand of charities. Your ideas on where you want your money to go. There are charities making $100's of millions, but please remember, EVERY charity started at ground zero. EVERY charity had to establish a base of believers and partners to provide the donations for their cause. The question of whether you should choose a new or an established charity, can be perplexing, but you, as a new charity contributor would have a much greater impact on the charities development. Newer charities give you the opportunity to "sit on the board of directors" so to speak and make suggestion that stand a much greater chance of being addressed than if you made those same suggestions to an old, well established charity.

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Who do you want to help?

Do you wish to stay in your own community? National? International. We are of course international and would appeal to all hearts and minds to look at some of the children in our chosen country. Please check our "Sponsor us" page to choose a child, read a short profile and help provide for their lives.

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Will you accept "Missions" work?

Obviously yes. Missionaries have been a critical element in reaching the children as well as being a major source of funding simply by their presence. We would accept and look forward to this key element.

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How do I check a "NEWER" charity out?

Look for the keys first. Do they have the IRS required 501(c)(3) establishing them as a tax exempt organization. Are all the specific country/city permits in place. Is there an accounting firm in place? Do they have an established Dr. to provide services as needed? Are they affiliated with a church? Looking at their website is a very good place to start. Does the site interest you? Does it answer some or all of your questions? Do they offer a varied program?

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What must I do to deduct my contributions to charity to the IRS?

Primarily "document, document, document"! There are new rules for 2007. IRS requires "written documentation" to substantiate deductions for all monetary donations - including cash! In case of an audit, you must have a canceled check, credit card statement or a written acknowledgement from the particular charity (showing charity info and the amount given).You will no longer deduct those few dollars you dropped in a checkout collection bucket without a receipt from the charity to back up your claim. Check this out with your tax preparer or favorite tax program.

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