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| Dropped in the mail today |
If one can cope with the stress of adding another item to the December task list, there are advantages to putting off donation decisions until the end of the year.
More information is available about one's tax, cash, and overall financial position.
Late changes to the tax law, both for the current year and future years, can be incorporated into the decisions.
Sometimes negative news hits charities that one is considering--too bad if a donation has already been made (the news need not be as bad as a scandal: maybe the charity has announced a public-policy position that one disagrees with).
Donors avoid the first-in bias, similar to that affecting interviewers of job candidates, of falling in love with the first person who walks through the door. I was favorably inclined toward, then decided against, a charity that helps wounded veterans when I matched it against similar organizations whose mailers came in later. (By the way, Charity Navigator is an invaluable research tool.)
Last word: this is a serious subject, but approach it with a light heart. "God loveth a cheerful giver. [2 Cor 9]"
© 2012 Stephen Yuen
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