Charity quilt question?

SNIP

I would request a receipt and hope they would have a bit more to say when scurrying to get one organized.

Is there an outside deadline you could cite? Here in the US, our taxes are due by April 15 and thus it would be very appropriate to request a receipt by now. Perhaps there is some similar deadline you could indicate when requesting a receipt?

Nice quilt, lovely feathers!

Mary

Here in the U.S., they would be required to give you some sort of a receipt for tax purposes. I don't think it would be out of line to give them a call to find out what happened. If they didn't sell the quilt, I think you are justified in asking to buy it back in exchange for a $200 donation.

Julia > Here's the quilt:

I don't have the exact answer, but I do have an approach to the problem. Pretend the twist didn't exist. Pretend you made the donation to an organization that you had no prior relationship with. Proceed from there. I don't know the laws for donations in Canada, whether you need a receipt from them, or whether you're allowed to guess as to the item's value. If I was sure they were in violation of the law, I think I'd email them saying that I wanted the receipt. If I didn't get it, I might call the governing body that oversees these sorts of organizations--or not. I might decide to let it go. Either way, I'd try not to let the fact that I knew these people get in the way of my decision.

--Lia

That's a tough one. It's a lovely quilt. The name Charity Quilt implies 'let it go'. It's been a whole year. But it sure is a lovely quilt. I'd say, what harm would it do to ask them whatever became of it? Then you can let it go.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

It's a lovely quilt, Kim, with beautiful quilting.

I honestly think that you would be quite entitled to ring and ask what had happened about the quilt - how much did they raise on it etc. You might have to wait and see how that sort of question went before asking anything deeper. I think telephoning would be better than an e-mail, in this case - because of your history with them. It's harder from your point of view, perhaps, but better to talk to a person or persons, so that you really find out. The thing with phoning is that you can keep asking questions as the conversation goes on, or as you get passed from person to person. Was the quilt donated to the organisation, or specifically for the auction? Unless you gave a written statement, I doubt that you could demand it back. It might well have already been auctioned and the money received etc. .

In message , KI Graham writes

Deadline has come and gone [here it's February 29th...I just issued all the receipts for our church!]. I was very careful to word the donation in such a way that it was clear a receipt was expected: "This is for the auction. My husband has requested a reserve of $200. Make your charitable donations receipt out to.......and mail it to......"

If this was anyone else, I think I would phone. But, I gotta admit, some staff of this organization acted so badly to me, that I want to be seen to be taking the higher road. I don't want ANYONE to get the idea that I'm threatening or demanding because they fired me [and believe me, they would, and it would be much discussed at staff meetings etc.] On the other hand, there's a lot of time, money and materials in this quilt.....

Bummer.

If you gave them the quilt, couldn't they just do with it what they wanted. Once you gave it, isn't it theirs to do with as they please? And once you've given the gift, can you expect to get it back?

Common courtesy would "demand" that they say something to you, but they have no legal obligation, do they? And you've already indicated that they folks seem to have no common courtesy.

There may be a lesson here for me. My 4th graders and I are supposedly making a quilt to be auctioned/raffled to raise money for a yearly overnight field trip. This year's field trip already has enough money. I think I'll make sure that it is still in my hands until I know that I will be there next year. Of course, we haven't started making blocks yet.

If you would rather not phone them, and I can easily see why you would not, how about calling out the big guns? A phone call along the lines of: " This is Maxmillian Toughaccountant. I am preparing the tax report for the Horatio Q. Grahams. I have here a copy of their note requesting a receipt for . . . . . . It appears that the deadline for preparing the receipts is past. When may we expect your compliance with Section

Our tax guy would be delighted to do that. Of course, he's rather fond of us. I suspect it's because we always pay him immediately and include a banana pudding. Polly

Can you have your husband call and ask for the receipt? Would that be any better?

Julia > Deadline has come and gone [here it's February 29th...I just issued all the

Howdy!

Make like a grown up, be a big girl: Call and ask. ;-)

R/Sandy

Seriously: in the UK that sort of thing now makes sense. A recent change in charity law means that donations of goods to charities are now subject to tax relief - the value of the donation is in effect taken off the donor's tax bill and converted to a monetary donation to the charity instead (you pay the same taxes but part of them goes to the charity). For a raffled quilt, that could up the value of the donation by quite a lot. But the charity has to be registered for the scheme, and the paperwork is not simple.

So when this happens, the donor will always know the value of their donation to the charity.

I work for a charity that does this (mainly for itsy bitsy donations where it's not worth the effort of doing it). I must suggest the banana puddings to our regional manager.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts

I'd write a letter asking for information, let it sit for a few days, then re-write as needed and send it to them. You do deserve an explanation.

I would request a full accounting. If they cannot account for sale price, demand return of the quilt.

Don't let it go! There must be somebody at the office you could tolerate talking to, just to find out what happened. After all, it's possible the quilt never arrived. (Although it's the least likely possibility.) Do you know that the auction actually took place? Roberta in D

"KI Graham" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:QhhBj.69363$pM4.12864@pd7urf1no...

My guess is that the company's reason for not getting back to you has nothing to do with you, the office politics, or anything about your actions and what you've done so far. I'd guess they haven't filled out the proper tax forms or communicated what happened to the quilt because they're disorganized and incompetent. I base my guess on my every interaction with small to medium sized charitable organizations. The giant ones like the American Red Cross or the Cancer Association will have clear rules, bureaucracy and paperwork for assisting donors. Everyone else will put energy into getting donations, then not seem to know what to do with them once they've got them.

I hadn't realized how consistent this has been until I started this post, but it seems to be true. I'm thinking of a local theater group that advertised that wanted donations for an auction. Their advertising was good, and there were several names and email addresses where you were suppose to write to donate. I emailed my question about donating a quilt and getting a minimum bid. I would have been satisfied with almost any answer. I'm still not satisfied that no one got back to me at all. If I'd just donated the quilt with a note attached saying that the quilt should go for at least $200, I'm sure I never would have heard another word. That's not because they know me and hate me. It's because they're stupid and don't know what they're doing.

I have a dozen more examples. I get riled up thinking about them. Some of my examples involve quilt museums. Others involve donating cars to religious groups, bicycles to Big Brothers and Big Sisters, gifts to the food pantry. In a world where incompetence looms large, it looms larger in these non-profits. It's for that reason that I suggest forgetting about ever having worked for this place and just treating it like a miscommunication over a donation. That's why having the accountant call is another good idea. It takes out the personal element.

--Lia