12 Days Of Charitable Giving (2018): Truth Be Told

It’s the ninth day of my 12 Days of Charitable Giving for 2018. Readers have suggested deserving charities over the past few weeks, and I’ll be posting one a day for—well, 12 days (I’m clever that way). Today’s charity is Truth Be Told.

Truth Be Told’s programs, which are designed by women, provide a safe, healing community for women during and after incarceration. The prison and jail programs provide opportunities for personal and spiritual growth and healing from past trauma through truth-telling in safe communities.

One of the programs is called Let’s Get Real. It’s a 14-week program designed to support inmates on their way out of prison. Some of these inmates experience “short timing”—when inmates react in potentially negative ways, including self-destructive behaviors, to the reality of being released, even when they’ve been model prisoners for years. It stems from fear of the unknown; many prisoners know they will return to the same environment they left with little opportunity, support or financial possibilities for a new lifestyle. The program not only provides emotional and other support, but assists inmates in identifying and working towards short-term goals, as well as thinking about what might be their long-term goals. The plan is to help these women to find love and respect for themselves and each other, with the ultimate goal to be a woman who makes a difference in the world for good and does not walk out of prison as a number and a statistic, but rather as a woman that is proud of herself.

So how can you help?

To make a one-time donation, click over to the organization’s website. If you’d like to make a recurring gift, contact the organization for details.

For federal income tax purposes, if you plan to claim a deduction for a cash contribution, you’ll want to keep a record of the donation regardless of the amount. Ideally, the organization will provide a written record with the name of the charity, date, and amount of the contribution.

There are also a number of volunteer opportunities. Remember that the IRS does not allow a charitable deduction for volunteering your services even if you can easily put a dollar amount on your time. So if, as an architect, you normally charge $350 per hour and you use that time to help a qualified charitable organization, you’re allowed a deduction in the amount of $0 (not a typo). However, most out-of-pocket expenses relating to volunteering are deductible so long as they’re not reimbursed to you or considered personal in nature. Out-of-pocket charitable expenses that might be deductible include parking fees and tolls; other travel expenses; uniforms or other related clothing worn as part of your charitable service; and supplies used in the performance of your services.

Do your homework.

As always, you want to make sure that your donation is going to a qualified charitable organization. A search using the IRS’ new Exempt Organizations Select Check reveals that Truth Be Told is on the list.

To find out more about the work of the organization, check out their website, like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

I often suggest checking out third-party sites like Charity Navigator for more information about charitable organizations, including evaluations and access to tax forms and other financials. Truth Be Told is not ranked by Charity Navigator because it does not evaluate organizations with less than $1M in annual revenue. For more information on how to conduct your own review, you can check out this handy guide, Evaluating Charities Not Currently Rated by Charity Navigator (downloads as a pdf).

Remember: Submissions to the 12 Days of Charitable Giving are made by readers, and in most cases, I can’t personally vouch for the good work that these folks do. So be generous, but be smart: Do your homework.

For more on making charitable donations, click here.

Looking for more inspiration? Here are the other organizations on the 12 Days of Charitable Giving list this year: