Quick Fix - Giving a Gift of Charity

by Paola Singer
The Wall Street Journal
Copyright © 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
January 3, 2008

Problem: Sending charitable donations in someone else's name.

Solution: Most charitable organizations allow people to make contributions on someone's behalf, and will send a card to the person in whose name the donation has been made. If you aren't sure which organization to choose, log on to justgive.org, which offers a guide to more than 1,000 charities, divided by category. You can make donations online to any of the charities listed, and instruct justgive.org to send a gift certificate with a personalized message. Other sites let the recipient choose the charity. Tisbest.org sells charity gift cards that work just like other online gift cards: You prepay between $10 and $5,000, and whoever receives the card decides how to spend the money by choosing one of 200 charities listed on tisbest.org, including the American Red Cross, Amnesty International and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The person who buys the card will receive a receipt, which can be tax-deductible. Donations made to organizations registered with the IRS as 501(c)(3) have tax benefits.