Year End Tzedakah Analysis
There are different opinions about what time period tzedakah should be set aside and distributed. If I recall correctly, most poskim seem to agree that one should make their accounting from Rosh Hashanah to Rosh Hashanah, but that any consistent time period which makes sense for the giver is appropriate. Being that we itemize on our tax return, it works best to make an accounting of what we gave to tzedakah versus what we owe based on the calendar year. I assume that most Americans do the same.
Giving tzedakah seems to be a never ending challenge. At least for me, there is never ending bookkeeping involved due to various sources of income including self-employment. Then, after all is said and done, it seems that we have never given quite enough. So we resolve to do better the next year and make a transfer from one account to another in hopes of getting the right start in the "new year," often referred to as the calendar year in our household.
If we celebrate the secular New Year in any significant way (besides watching the Rose Bowl-actually, and I'm the only one who does that-which was unfortunately disappointing this year), it is by "resolving" to do better the next year and making a transfer from one account to another in hopes of getting the right start in the "New Year," which is, more often than not, referred to as the "calendar year" in our household. Hopefully, making this resolution is muttar.
This year, in addition to finalizing our regular spreadsheet of tax deductible donations, I also sorted them by "function" to see where our tzedakah money is going? I divided the functions in the following way: Community (Eruv, Mikvah, Bikur Cholim), Poor, Synagogue, Jewish Education (K-12), Jewish Education (Adult), and Israel (General).
Our goal was to give 50% of our tzedakah for the year to Jewish Education at the K-12 level, followed by giving to (mostly local) organizations that provide for the poor. We would have met our first goal, except that an unexpected amount for a different cause hit my credit card statement on 12/31/06. We did not meet our second goal, but this isn't a post to complain about supporting synagogue functions :). My analysis did show that our money was given almost exclusively locally, a goal of ours. . . . . but, possibly to a fault.
If it isn't too nosy . . . . . what are/were your goals in terms of giving? Where are your funds going, primarily? And, do you plan to make any adjustments? (We are planning to make a few).
And, for all of the record keeping readers, a Happy New Calendar Year.
7 comments:
great way to keep up with tzedakah giving. you can also try to deposit 8% - 12% of each 'income' into a separate checking account and then figure out the exact amount at the end of the year.
in the meantime, you have put it aside, and can write checks off of it as needed.
if you need any advice with 'how to give' and 'where to give', i am happy to help.
arnie draiman
www.ziv.org
We're honestly not at the point where we can give much tzedakah (if any), but the little we did and do generally goes to either places that we have a sense of hakaros hatov for or that we think are accomplishing something eminently worthwhile. (Say, Chofetz Chaim, a local shul, and ATime.)
What a relevant and timely post! We usually analyze tzedakah strictly on a "dollars and cents" level, but I like the idea of reviewing the categories, looking for trends in donating, and using the information to set goals.
I really appreciate your manner of addressing these topics!
Do you acutally donate to K-12 schools or do you consider your tution, which is tax deductable, your tzeddakah?
As soon as any check comes in, we add the amount we owe from that check onto a running list. when we write a check, we subtract that amount from the running total. My husband is very careful that our tzedaka go out in a timely manner (never having much more than $500 to give.).
We tend to give to Israel causes and a few local ones.
On another note, did you see the Fiesta Bowl? It was amazing (and I don't enjoy college football :)).
Arnie and OutofTown-It definitely is best to move money from one account to the next when paychecks are received. I would be better about that, but the complications are caused by my parnasa. . . baruch hashem we were able to transfer the entire shortage into a savings account.
OutofTown-I limited my Bowl Game watching yesterday to just the Rose Bowl. Too bad. I would have enjoyed the Fiesta Bowl. :(
Anonymous-I assume that you are refering to "extras" paid on top of tuition like the scholarship fund or the banquet dinner when you state "your tution, which is tax deductable" since tuition is NEVER tax deductable. Unfortunately, you (and most of the world) are mistaken, from a strict reading of the law, about the legality of deducting these tuition expenses. To keep this comment short, I will address that in the next post.
As for us, we have made it our goal to give our around 50% of our tzedakah to local K-12 Orthodox Jewish schools. So, I'm only talking about completely volunatary donations.
Ezzie and RaggedyMom-Thanks for reading and enjoying!
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