Any Eagle Scouts? Eagle Project question...

[Little Mary]

My son is planning his fundraising for his Eagle Project to (hopefully) be completed later this year.

We are going to mail letters to family and friends asking for donations.

Does anyone know if such donations are tax deductible?

Also, templates for letters like this one - asking for donations to Eagle Projects.... reliable sites/sources to use?

I am hoping someone can point me to a reliable source that will help me with this information or, if you have personal experience with this sort of thing, please impart your wisdom!

Yes I know I could find out through his troop but they're all away at summer camp this week and I'm just trying to get a jump start.

[FrDavid96]

I would strongly suggest you visit this site:

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/...resources.aspx

And in particular, download this PDF document

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pd...7_fillable.pdf

This is the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook (it's a large file that may take a while to download)

It contains detailed information on what is or is not acceptable for an Eagle Scout Service Project. Your local council might also have other information to supplement what's in the workbook.

Please read through the workbook before you go any further with the project because not following all the proper procedures could jeopardize the entire project (and his chances of meeting the requirements for the Eagle rank).

See pages 17 and 18 on fundraising:

6. Should any donors want documentation of a gift, this must be provided through the project beneficiary, not the Boy Scouts of America. If a donor or fundraising participant wants a receipt, this, too, must be provided in the name of the beneficiary.

In other words, the Eagle candidate himself is not considered a charity for tax purposes---the organization that benefits from the project may (or may not) be a charity. If it is a charity and it can give receipts for tax purposes, then that receipt must come from the beneficiary, not the Eagle candidate and not the troop.

Also, know that the Eagle candidate must complete and submit the fundraising application on page 17 before he begins to ask for donations.

[SonCatcher]

Originally Posted by Little Mary

My son is planning his fundraising for his Eagle Project to (hopefully) be completed later this year.

We are going to mail letters to family and friends asking for donations.

Does anyone know if such donations are tax deductible?

Also, templates for letters like this one - asking for donations to Eagle Projects.... reliable sites/sources to use?

I am hoping someone can point me to a reliable source that will help me with this information or, if you have personal experience with this sort of thing, please impart your wisdom!

Yes I know I could find out through his troop but they're all away at summer camp this week and I'm just trying to get a jump start.

I'd recommend your son talk to a tax attorney about this (he is the scout in question - if he does all the work, his application for Eagle will be that much stronger and the attorney will be more likely to speak to him pro bono). The Council might also be able to guide him in part. (adult leaders in the troop might not actually know anything about how to accept donations)

[Little Mary]

Very helpful answers! Thanks for the posts. I will definitely run all of this by his scout master.

[nagyszakall]

Originally Posted by FrDavid96

I would strongly suggest...

I apologize to everyone in this thread for interrupting.
Dear FrDavid96, I am trying to contact you by replying to your last post, because you don't want private messages. I just had a question regarding a something you posted in a thread which is already closed. In 2009 you posted that you found a "renewal of wedding vows" in a pre-Vatican II Roman Ritual. Could you please help me find the actual text? I found an on-line version of the Ritual but I could not locate the rite for renewal of vows. I appreciate your help and again apologize for interrupting in your conversation about Eagle Scouts...

[SonCatcher]

Originally Posted by nagyszakall

I apologize to everyone in this thread for interrupting.
Dear FrDavid96, I am trying to contact you by replying to your last post, because you don't want private messages. I just had a question regarding a something you posted in a thread which is already closed. In 2009 you posted that you found a "renewal of wedding vows" in a pre-Vatican II Roman Ritual. Could you please help me find the actual text? I found an on-line version of the Ritual but I could not locate the rite for renewal of vows. I appreciate your help and again apologize for interrupting in your conversation about Eagle Scouts...

He hasn't posted in three months. It is possible that he has retired his account.

Perhaps, if you start a new thread in the Traditional Catholicism forum, one of the members there will know what you are talking about (the L&S forum would also be appropriate but members there may be less familiar with the EF). It would be good to provide a link to the original 2009 post so the readers have an idea of the context FrDavid96 was writing from.

[nagyszakall]

Thanks. I'll try that.