I donated to the Employee Appreciation fund at Gulf Coast Village, a division of Volunteers of America, does that count as a charitable donation?

[dragyn83]

I believe it is a religious organization

[Opus 17]

Only the recipient can tell you, they must give you a written receipt if your donation is more than $75.

The problem is that you might be donating to an organization that is exempt but for a purpose that is not exempt.  I found one "Gulf Coast Village" that is a VOA-owned retirement community, and the VOA is certainly a tax-exempt organization broadly speaking.  However, making a gift to thank an employee for their service might or might not be tax deductible, depending on how it is handled by the organization.  In general terms, a gift to a specific person is never deductible, no matter how deserving they are.  A gift to an employee benefit fund might be deductible, if the benefit fund is correctly established.  

Bottom line is, you have to ask the organization. 

[BillM223]

Gulf Coast Village is a qualified non-profit, recognized by the IRS. So if this Employee Appreciation fund is an integral part of the Village's mission, then the contribution would be tax-deductible.

Note, you should always be able to just ask the organization; they should know if they have applied for 501(c)(3) status and been accepted.

[Opus 17]

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@BillM223 wrote:

Gulf Coast Village is a qualified non-profit, recognized by the IRS. So if this Employee Appreciation fund is an integral part of the Village's mission, then the contribution would be tax-deductible.

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Yes, but the problem is that if "employee appreciation fund" is a backdoor way of tipping your favorite staff members, the particular gift may not be tax deductible even though the organization is generally speaking an exempt organization.