Fundraising - Skimming - Unethical?

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by monster

If you paid $x for t-shirt printing and you wish to be reimbursed, you make a formal request for $x to the organization you are raising the money for.

This is exactly right, and furthermore they should do it even if you intend to donate the cost back. That sounds pedantic and inefficient, and to a certain extent it is. But a) it gives you and the organization a good record of how much you donated and b) it helps the organization track their expenses. (The next time this happens who will be running it? Maybe somebody different? Will they know that the group got tshirts? Will they know where they were printed and how much they cost? etc. A good paper trail helps enhance this kind of institutional memory.)

A better arrangement IMO would be for the organization to actually pay for the shirts . . .

Also FWIW, to a certain extent mileage driven to do volunteer work for nonprofits may be deductible for US taxpayers who itemize deductions. (Disclaimer: I am not a tax professional.)

[monster]

Originally Posted by SteveDallas

it helps the organization track their expenses. (The next time this happens who will be running it? Maybe somebody different? Will they know that the group got tshirts? Will they know where they were printed and how much they cost? etc. A good paper trail helps enhance this kind of institutional memory.)

Oh that's so true. Imagine embarking on a tax return for a non-profit club, where you only took over the books in September. Prior to that, it appears coaches' hotel expenses were paid for by person x, who then paid that much less for their coaching fees when they remembered in the next tax year, but none of this shows in the books! Argh!