“A new service on CrimeReports.com, launched last year and expanding nationwide, overlays police reports on maps, so people can view where arrests and other police calls have been made. Users can configure e-mail alerts to notify them of crimes in locations of interest within a day.”

Before we moved in to our apartment, I contacted a police station to ask for crime incidence rates in our area. I was passed on from one place to another, I ended up just forgetting about it. This free online service cuts the middle man and lets you do the search yourself. You a search on your address and I just tried searching for our area. Not too bad!

After all, the Girl Scouts of America is a charitable organization.

Tax Cat Sez: They are… but only if you don’t take the cookies.

Furthermore, they noted from the Girl Scouts website:

Q: Is the purchase of Girl Scout Cookies tax-deductible?

A: No and Yes.

* No, if the customer keeps the cookies. Individuals who buy Girl Scout Cookies and take the cookies home, or consume them, have purchased a product at a fair market value. For this reason, no part of the price of a box of Girl Scout Cookies used in this way is tax-deductible.

* Yes, if the customer leaves the cookies with Girl Scouts. Many Girl Scouts ask customers to pay for one or more boxes of cookies for use in their community service project, for example, collecting for a food pantry. The customers not receiving any Girl Scout Cookies do not benefit directly from paying for them. Those individuals may treat the purchase price of the donated cookies as a charitable contribution.

Oh, well. So much for dreaming about having your cake and eating it, too. It sounded too good to be true. But pray tell, what is the point of buying Girl Scout Cookies if you can’t eat them?! I think I’d rather just get my box of cookies and donate money like I usually do! That’s my win-win situation.

While we’re on the subject of tax deductions and charitable organizations, I’m curious to know if you check where your money goes to the charities you donate to? Have you ever wondered? Or are you already a savvy donor?

I worked at an auction and liquidation company before and every now and then we would host charitable events. I’ve never paid much attention to the charities we deal with, only when I have to talk to their PR person regarding their logos and fancy write-ups and they do get really picky about these because even little mistakes can break their sponsorships, so God help us! Anyway, like I said, I didn’t care who they were until one time our General Manager told me that they decided against one charity because of their high allocation to administrative spending.

I’ve never looked at charities closely before. It was easy to just whip out the check book, sign it, mail it, and wait for the next year when I get my tax receipt [and sometimes not!] and be surprised at all of them mailing me because I forgot I even donated!

I’m your typical consumer when it comes to picking charitable organizations. I guess. I ask myself:

• Which are the causes that affect me directly or indirectly (e.g. history of a disease, etc.)?
• Have I heard about them before? Am I familiar with them? [Furthermore -- Did they send me anything? Hahaha. This is more for recognition of the organization, but I must admit I'm a sucker for those stickers and pads. Shameful!]
• Have I heard of anything they’ve done, either in the newspaper, or the radio, online, etc?

I like donating as much as I can, but as you can see, I’m pretty hands off when it comes to finding out where the money goes after it leaves my pocket.

This year I plan to make my donations wisely, pick organizations carefully and be an informed donor. I know the causes that I want to donate to, it’s time to ’shop’ for organizations next.

Generally, according to BBB Wise Giving Alliance Charitable Standards, at least half of the charity’s total income should be spent on programs and at least half of public contributions should be spent on the programs described in advertisements and appeals. No more than 35 percent of the contributions should be spent on fundraising, and no more than half of the charity’s total income should go to administrative and fundraising costs. If it seems that a charity’s administrative or fundraising costs are too high, there could be extenuating circumstances. For example, it’s natural for a new charity to have higher fundraising costs than an established one. [source]

I’ve bookmarked sites I’m going to check out:

Guide to Charitable Giving

For Canada

• The Donor’s Guide to Canadian Charities

For the US & Canada

• http://www.guidestar.org/

Sites that some of you can use to search for your charities —

For the US:

• http://www.charitynavigator.org
• http://www.charitywatch.org
• http://www.charitablechoices.org/
• http://www.give.org
• http://www.networkforgood.org/
• http://nccs.urban.org/

For the UK

• http://www.philanthropycapital.org/html/research.php<

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