Contents

DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTSpayment “made partly as a contribution and partly in consideration for goods orservices provided to the payor by the donee organization.” 25 The term does notinclude a payment made to an organization, operated exclusively for religiouspurposes, in return for which the donor receives solely an intangible religiousbenefit that generally is not sold in a commercial transaction outside the donativecontext. 26 Specifically, if a charitable organization (other than a state, a possessionof the United States, a political subdivision of a state or possession, theUnited States, and the District of Columbia 27 ) receives a quid pro quo contributionin excess of $75, the organization must, in connection with the solicitation orreceipt of the contribution, provide a written statement that: (1) informs thedonor that the amount of the contribution that is deductible for federal incometax purposes is limited to the excess of the amount of any money and the valueof any property other than money contributed by the donor over the value of thegoods or services provided by the organization; and (2) provides the donor witha good faith estimate of the value of the goods or services. 28It is intended that this disclosure be made in a manner that is reasonablylikely to come to the donor’s attention. Therefore, immersing the disclosure infine print in a larger document is inadequate. 29EXAMPLE 22.1In 2005, Y, a charitable organization, received a $100 “contribution” from a donor, inexchange for which the donor received a dinner valued at $40. Y must inform the donor inwriting that only $60 is deductible as a charitable contribution. (It is the fair market value of thegood or service that triggers this rule: it is not the cost of the item to the charity. Thus, in thisexample, if a caterer provided the dinner at no charge to the charity, the charitable deductionwould still be $60.)For purposes of the $75 threshold, separate payments made at differenttimes of the year with respect to separate fundraising events generally will notbe aggregated.These rules do not apply when only de minimis, token goods or services(such as keychains and bumper stickers) are provided to the donor. In definingthese terms, prior IRS pronouncements are followed. 30 Also, these rules do notapply to transactions that do not have a donative element (such as the charging25 IRC § 6115(b).26 Id. See § 21.1(b), text accompanied by note 33.27 IRC §§ 6115(a), 170(c)(1).28 IRC § 6115(a). For contributions that have a value of $75 or less, the body of law described in § 22.1 continuesto apply.The IRS signaled that it may support revision of these rules to allow provision of this statement by electronicmail. INFO 2000-0070. Subsequently, in a solicitation of public comment concerning application of thefederal tax law governing tax-exempt organizations to activities they conduct on the Internet (Ann. 2000-84,2000-42 I.R.B. 385), the IRS posed a series of questions, including this one: “Does an organization meet therequirements of [IRC §] 6115 for ‘quid pro quo’ contributions with a webpage confirmation that may be printedout by the contributor or by sending a confirmation email to the donor?”29 H. Rep. No. 103-213, 103d Cong., 1st Sess. 566, n.35 (1993).30 See § 22.1, text accompanied by notes 19–23. 610