Charities hope for end-of-year surge of generosity

Charities in New Jersey hope they’ll be seeing an increase in donations during the holiday season.

This is a critical time of the year for charitable contributions, said Linda Czipo, president and CEO of the Center for Non-Profits.

“Seventy-five to 80 percent of the charities that respond to our surveys say demand for their services is outpacing the resources they are receiving to provide them,”  she said. “Charities definitely rely on donations for all sources to be able to provide the services people need.”

A large portion of their donations usually come in the last week of the year when the spirit of the season causes people to feel generous, Czipo said.

Tax considerations are also a factor because you can deduct the value of your charitable donations if you itemize on your income tax return.

“The deadline for being able to claim those deductions for tax year 2016 is Dec. 31. So that’s why you’ll see a lot more in the way of appeals,”  she said. “It may not necessarily spur somebody to give who might otherwise not give, but it certainly seems to affect the amount that somebody might give.”

Czipo said donors have plenty of charitable causes to consider.

“It can be anything from a social service kind of cause or a soup kitchen or acute human needs and anti-poverty to protecting the environment or advocacy organizations that are fighting for strong public policy,” she said.