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·         A gift to a qualified charitable organization may entitle you to a charitable contribution deduction against your income tax if you itemize deductions. You must itemize in order to take a charitable deduction. Make sure that if you itemize, your total deductions are greater than the standard deduction. If they're not, stick with the standard deduction.

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·         A contribution is deductible in the year in which it is paid. Putting the check in the mail to the charity constitutes payment. A contribution made on a credit card is deductible in the year it is charged to your credit card, even if payment to the credit card company is made in a later year.

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·         Most, but not all, charitable organizations qualify for a charitable contribution deduction. You can deduct contributions only if they are made to or for the use of a qualified recipient. No charitable contribution deduction is allowed for gifts to certain other kinds of organizations, even if those organizations are exempt from income tax. Contributions to individuals, foreign governments, foreign charities, and certain private foundations similarly are not deductible. All organizations rated by Charity Navigator qualify for charitable status, and you can deduct your donations to these organizations, subject to certain limitations.

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·         There are limits to how much you can deduct, but they're very high. For most people, the limits on charitable contributions don't apply. Only if you contribute more than 20% of your adjusted gross income to charity is it necessary to be concerned about donation limits. Under the new tax law, if the contribution is made to a public charity, the deduction is limited to 60% of your contribution base. For example, if you have an adjusted gross income of $100,000, your deduction limit for that year is $60,000.