donation of a ring

[Arkteia]

What is considered to be a proof of donation? I donated an expensive star ruby ring to the Children's Hospital thrift store a while ago. It was with an appraisal, first the saleslady just grabbed it and said, "than you". She did not want to register it and give me proof of donation; naturally, ha-ha, she got very angry. She said that the store workers had no right to appraise any donations. I insisted; she got a photo of my appraisal papers and stapled it to proof of donation slip and signed at the bottom. She said that she did not know the store's EIN number. Next day I called the central store, asked for the EIN number and said that they'd rather register it with the laminated accompanying certificate, otherwise there would be problems.

It has been a while since that time. And it is not an issue of deduction; I do not plan to deduct it. But this is a Children's Hospital Thrift store! I just want to be sure that my donation went where it should have gone, and not into someone's pocket. Is there any way to check it? I really want to do it just because I know it would have sold anywhere. And I have many nice things that I am not wearing that I would love to donate specifically to this hospital. But I am scared now.

 

[Cehrabehra]

in this situation I would really consider just selling it and donating the $$. Unless it were an auction.

 

[Gypsy]

Yeah. I would have just sold the thing on ebay myself with the appraisal and with a blub about 100% of proceeds to Childrens Hospital. Can you get it back??

If not, just call and ask to speak to whoever is in charge. Just escalate till you hit someone with a brain and some power to use it and have them investigate.

 

[reader]

Also, would the hospital thrift store know the best way to market such items as these in order to get the most money for the donated item? I'm not wholly sure that they are quite set up for selling goods of the highest order.

 

[iLander]

Get it back if you can, then find a hospital administrator in charge of fund raising (they totally have one, I'm sure) and give it to them.
They probably do a silent auction each year, or maybe they can raffle it.

If they raffle it, I would like to buy a ticket! You have some great stuff Crasru!

 

[Maisie]

I think its lovely of you to donate one of your rings.

 

[Steel]

How annoying. I agree, if you aren't selling them yourself, that it might be best to ring next time and find out who is the Mr. Ronald McDonald of the Thrift shop and give the next items to that personal yourself - or to the hospital directly (as was also said).
And why not make the deduction? <- rhetorical q.

 

[Arkteia]

Because I have a lof of deductions. Most of them are medical expenses, because I paid for my son's treatment out-of-pocket (the insurance does not cover it in our state - so far). And I had a lot of donations. It was a year of spending and giving.

iLander - you are right, next time I should auction it and donate $$. I did not want to mess with ebay, and Children's Hospital had no auctions to come. In general, it was my appraiser's fault because he told me that Indian star rubies were cheap, but seeing prices at which star sapphires are sold these days, I think we had a different definition of "cheap". I bought some expensive stones that year, perhaps this is why he thought it was "cheap" for me, but I think it was a wrong decision. People at my church would have bought it at an auction, or else, I should have sold it on ebay. I know that this thrift store sells expensive jewelry, because once a PS-er mentioned it as a source of good stones (I have to find that post, I do not know who it was, but I remember my answer NOT advising people to go there). I think I should deal with it just because I do not want things to go into someone's pocket, I just had too many things to do this year, but since I have all names and the proof of donation, I can always check what happened to it. In hindsight, yes, I should not donate things, just $$, but I saw diamond rings being sold in that store (another branch, though) so apparently they know how to deal with jewelry.

Next time I decide to "downsize", I shall sell something.

Maisie - not one! That year I donated three, I think I have a post about it somewhere, and trust me, all of them were expensive. An aquamarine and diamonds ring, and this one, and an opal ring, and some things that I did not even require proof of donation for, but most of them went to my church. They did not collect for religious purposes. They were raising $$ for a new school building, it was a Saturday Russian school. Women who teach there, and they teach Russian, math, and music, do it free of charge, and I think it is a great idea to make something for the community, so I felt good about giving. This ring went to the Hospital, because many people donate to hospitals, and for a while, I did not care, it was a very busy year, but now I am slowly getting suspicious.

Big thanks to all of you who chose to participate in the discussion!

 

[Maisie]

Because I have a lof of deductions. Most of them are medical expenses, because I paid for my son's treatment out-of-pocket (the insurance does not cover it in our state - so far). And I had a lot of donations. It was a year of spending and giving.


Maisie - not one! That year I donated three, I think I have a post about it somewhere, and trust me, all of them were expensive. An aquamarine and diamonds ring, and this one, and an opal ring, and some things that I did not even require proof of donation for, but most of them went to my church. They did not collect for religious purposes. They were raising $$ for a new school building, it was a Saturday Russian school. Women who teach there, and they teach Russian, math, and music, do it free of charge, and I think it is a great idea to make something for the community, so I felt good about giving. This ring went to the Hospital, because many people donate to hospitals, and for a while, I did not care, it was a very busy year, but now I am slowly getting suspicious.

Big thanks to all of you who chose to participate in the discussion!

I think its wonderful that you get so involved in your community. I wish I had something to sell but I don't. I know I should be offering my time instead. Thank you for reminding me.