In plain English, a donation is money or goods given without getting anything of value in return. Paying to attend an event, purchasing art, or renting the venue for an event or rehearsal is not considered (by the IRS) a donation. Some people, shall we say, bend the truth a bit when they file their income taxes, and count above expenditures as donations. If you choose to do so, please don't tell us.

You are only required to obtain and keep an official receipt if you donate over $250 at once, or if you donate property worth $250 or more (e.g. if you donate your art to our annual benefit art sale). If you donated artwork to our benefit art sale, and the value of your artwork was over $250, or you would just like a receipt for your records, please contact us.

Value of your time and labor is not deductible as a charitable contribution. Any expenses you incur while doing so are deductible as volunteer expenses.

Tax exempt status is retroactive. We are considered to have been a tax exempt non-profit since we incorporated on August 8, 2001. If you really wanted to, you could file an amended tax return for last year, adding any donations made to us as charitable contributions. For those of you who donated to us before August 8, 2001, your donations are not tax deductible, but they are appreciated just as much!

What if I'm a self-employed artist and donated artwork to 21 Grand? Can I deduct that on my Schedule C?

In short, no. As an individual "sole proprietor", any charitable contributions made through your business are considered by the IRS as having been made by you, personally. However, if you value your artwork as inventory, and regularly calculate the Cost of Goods Sold and so forth, you can count the value of your work as "Items withdrawn for personal use", then take the charitable contribution deduction.

This is the tricky part. Almost every tax exempt non-profit will advertise that your donations to them are tax deductible. However, few tell you the following:

You can only deduct charitable contributions and volunteer expenses on form, Schedule A: Itemized Deductions, and you would, generally, only itemize your deductions if they were more than the standard deduction ($4500 or so for being single, $7600 or so for being married filing jointly, $6600 or so if you're Head of Household). If you are a tenant who does not make over, say, $60K a year, or have exceptionally large medical expenses, or have a lot of job-related expenses you are not reimbursed for, or have lost a lot of money gambling, you will probably take the standard deduction and not file Schedule A, thus not be able to deduct your tax-deductible contributions.