How Do I Make Sure My Charitable Donation Is Tax-Deductible?

The holidays are all about giving, and this year the IRS is giving taxpayers a special bonus for donating to their favorite charities. Before you spend all your Christmas cash delivering gifts to every charity you come across, take a look at the following items to ensure that your charitable donations will be tax-deductible.

If you want to receive a deduction for your charitable contributions, you must do your homework. It's easy to let your heart guide you when you are passionate about a cause, but you want to let your head direct you so that you don't end up giving away money to a fake charity. Deductions are only permitted for qualified charities that are tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. It's important to understand that there are other types of tax-exempt organizations that don't allow for deductible donations, such as 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations.

Examples of qualifying organizations include:

Source Fool.com