Hi Everyone:
Thank you for reading this question and trying to help. I called up Turbotax and several agents. I was finally transferred to a tax attorney who explained that because the standard deduction was raised this year, only a portion of my charitable donations exceeded the standard deduction and reduced my federal tax liability. That is why the federal tax refund did not change much when I entered those donations, but the state tax refund went up by more. I am putting this followup in so others who are new to the world of charitable contributions (and tax deductions) might find this helpful.
