Charitable giving, nonprofit tax rules, and what donors and organizations need to know to give (and receive) the right way.
There are 45 days left until the end of the year. That means you have just a little over a month to whittle down your taxable income. Sure, you could buy your friends and family a set of taxgirl mugs for the holidays – or you could make a nice charitable donation. It’s the “feel…
I know that cleanup efforts are still ongoing in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy… 21,000 people in the Philadelphia area alone are still without power and nearly 2 million are still in the dark in the State of New Jersey. Worrying about taxes in the middle of all of that shouldn’t be part of the…
Since posting my article on Hurricane Sandy, I’ve been asked about what was still needed for the clean-up and rebuilding post-Hurricane Sandy. I received some additional information today and I’m passing it along. A few who have asked for specifics: Keyport Central School Shelter They need lactose-free milk, canned fruit, adult diapers, D batteries, men’s…
Last night, the power came back on in our house, following an outage due to Hurricane Sandy. We were lucky to have the power back on so quickly: our power company, PECO Energy, called Sandy “the most damaging storm in company history.” Many of my friends are still without power and have been told that…
Let’s say you’re in the mood for a coffee. You pop into the cafe, order your drink, and are informed by the barista that the cost of the coffee is $1.99 in the regular white cardboard cup – or $1.59 if you opt for a blue cardboard cup. In most cases, unless you really have…
Former GOP hopeful Herman Cain was in the City of Brotherly Love this week and he wasn’t there to sample the pizza. The one-time restaurant mogul (he chaired Godfather’s Pizza from 1986 to 1996) who once touted his economic plan based on a familiar pizza promotion (the 9-9-9 plan) was here to talk politics. Cain…
As a kid, the church was always a big part of my life. I was that girl, the one who raised her hand and asked questions and often got shushed in service. I did, however, eventually have the good fortune to have a pastor who was everything that I thought a religious leader should be:…
If you read the blog regularly, you probably already know a little bit about my grandmother. If you don’t, let me fill you in… She made the best vegetable soup in the world but couldn’t tell you the recipe. She raised eight children, including an invalid son whom she refused to institutionalize even though everyone…
It’s election season. And for the first time in my adult life, I’m receiving emails from friends asking me to contribute to various political races outside of my own state – from the McCaskill/Akin senatorial race in Missouri to the race to replace Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) in Maine. One such email (from a friend,…
The “fastest-growing church in the United States” has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Alabaster in the state of Alabama, claiming that a new series of ordinances is intended to restrict their right to freedom of religion. The Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has a worldwide baptized membership of about 16.3 million people, has…