How does my charitable donations affect my federal and state tax refunds?

[DoninGA]

For a federal tax refund the charitable donation probably does not affect your federal tax refund at all.

Charitable donations on entered on Schedule A of the federal tax return as an itemized deduction.

The total of all your itemized deductions on Schedule A must be greater than the standard deduction for your filing status to have any tax benefit.

Standard deductions for 2023

Single - $13,850 add $1,850 if age 65 or older
Married Filing Separately - $13,850 add $1,500 if age 65 or older
Married Filing Jointly - $27,700 add $1,500 for each spouse age 65 or older
Head of Household - $20,800 add $1,850 if age 65 or older

How this affects your state tax refund is dependent on if your state allows charitable donations to be subtracted from your total state income without being an itemized deductions on the state return.