donation to Cornell athletics vs Cornell Hockey Assoc. membership

This is actually a question prompted by the conversation in the "What do you want more of from eLynah" thread, but since it has drifted from that topic, I thought it better to ask in a new thread.

I've been making it a habit the last few years to contribute $50-$100 to the athletics dept. with the money designated for men's ice hockey (each of the last few years I've gotten a call from a hockey player during their pledge drive). But reading Greg's post and Larry Baum's post in that other thread, I'm starting to wonder if what I should be doing is sending that money to the CHA if I really want it to help the ice hockey team? What are people's thoughts?

If things work like Greg described (a la The United Way--you can designate to whom your support is going but it makes no difference in the bottom line amount that organization/organizations gets unless you give more than The United Way deems it/them deserving of) then CHA may be a better vehicle.

That raises three other questions:

1. Are "gifts" through CHA tax-deductible?

2. Can a gift through CHA be made with appreciated stocks (there may still be a few around these days!) to avoid paying capital gains tax? My guess is that it's a "membership" and you pay in cash.

3. Does athletics "leadership" (oxymoron?) consider funding from CHA in its budget allocation algorithm in the same way Greg is saying it considers gifts designated to a specific sports program?

I believe gifts to the CHA are not tax deductible because you are getting some benefit for your contribution/membership. I don't know how the atheletics dept considers CHA funding when making budget allocations, but I'm pretty sure the university won't be able to take credit for your CHA membership as part of their "% of alum who give money to Cornell" statistic, which gets counted in the college rankings.

Beeeej?

I'm not sure why anyone should care whether Cornell can count their gift or not in an irrelevant statistic used to compile a meaningless ranking, but tax deductibility is certainly an important consideration.

I do receive a gift receipt from Cornell and do count it as a tax deduction. I believe Cornell counts it as a directed gift to athletics.

Larry

Thanks, Larry.

But now I'm concerned that they'll just throw it in the general pot and end up giving Mike whatever they think he should have, regardless of what you and I and others designate for hockey. And there's still the issue of giving appreciated securities for some of us now living on...ahem...fixed income.

Somewhere I thought I read or heard that each coach was given an annual amount from the athletics budget and told to go out and raise the rest of what he or she needed. That would seem different from what Greg described in the other thread, unless whatever was raised above the "needed" amount was thrown into the general kitty.

Anyone know for sure how this really works? Or is this like deciphering Enron?

Unless something in Cornell's policies or the federal tax code has changed drastically, membership dues in the CHA are not deductible from your income for purposes of calculating your taxes. Members receive far too much benefit from their dues for them to be tax-deductible; there is a quid pro quo here that goes way beyond the standard 2% "de minimus." Even members of the higher-tier circles of the CHA receive benefits far beyond $10 or $20 value over the course of a season for their $500 or $1,000 dues.

That's not the only issue, either; I also recall the CHA being a completely separate entity from Cornell, and therefore unable to benefit from Cornell's status as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. I do not, however, recall whether the CHA has set itself up as a 501(c)(3) on its own, but I tend to doubt it.

Larry, if you are in fact receiving gift receipts from Cornell as a result of your CHA dues, someone is making an error that needs to be corrected, and you should make sure not to deduct them on your tax returns. Many people, myself included, make regular, non-CHA gifts to the hockey program in addition to our CHA dues, and we are correctly issued gift receipts for those gifts, and we are correct in taking deductions for them if we itemize our deductions. But I'm not aware of anybody else receiving gift receipts for their CHA dues, and I have to wonder if perhaps you're just remembering incorrectly.

I can't comment on the athletics budgeting procedures.

Beeeej

I've just confirmed that donations to the Cornell Hockey Association are tax-deductible, and since they're processed through the University Gift Records office, they even count for your giving credit for your class, college, etc.

It's important to note that membership dues are not donations. You can send a separate donation/gift along with your dues payment, and that separate portion will be tax deductible.