Sponsored a cook off

[Sarutten]

I sponsored a cook off and a cheerleader can I write that off as a donation and if I can should it be like when I donate to church 

[ThomasM125]

You could treat a monetary contribution to a charitable organization as a deductible contribution for federal tax purposes only to the extent you didn't receive a benefit in return. So if you mean you contibuted money to a qualifying charitable organization and you didn't receive any tangible benefit from it, then you can treat it as a charitable contribution. 

[xmasbaby0]

We know nothing about the organization for which you organized a cookoff, nor do we know about whatever yu did for a cheerleader.  Only donations to qualified charities can be entered as deductions.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/credits-and-deductions/help/what-is-a-qualified-charitable-organiz...

[Sarutten]

The gym is not a profitable organization and my niece is the cheerleader. 

[xmasbaby0]

Then....sorry----neither one counts and cannot be entered on your tax return.