Donations favours - how do they work?

[anchor31]

Hi everyone!

I just decided to do donation favours for the Canadian Breast Cancer Association to honourmy mom''s courage. How do I do that?

TIA!

 

[CrownJewel]

You can call them up and ask how to do donations in someone''s name. This may require their name and address or phone number. Then the Canadian Breast Cancer Association will send you a receipt for each one. I *guess* you can include those receipts in a little favor card presented to your guests? I''m not really sure what the etiquette is on that. Are you supposed to tell them how much you donated in their name? Your guests can keep these receipts and write them off during tax season.

 

[CrownJewel]

BTW, how is your mom doing?

 

[doodle]

my mom, along with many others in my family, had breast cancer, and my FI''s dad died of diabetes (many other relatives in both our families also have it), so we''re donating to the american breast cancer foundation and to the american diabetes association. we''re going to have little cards printed with something along the lines of "A donation in your name has been made to the ______". half the donations will go to one and the other half to the other charity. depending on your wedding colors, you could also attach the ribbons--the canadian breast cancer foundation uses the pink ribbon as a logo, too, right? how''s your mom doing? i wish you and her both all the best, and i think it''s really cool that you''re honoring her strength in your wedding.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Just wanted to say this is a lovely idea!

I think the ribbons in your wedding colors would look great.

 

[anchor31]

I guess I''ll call the Association then. Thanks for the tips and concern. I just learned yesterday so it''s hard. We''re on a very tight budget and we''ll probably only donate 1$ per guest (not enough for individual refunds, I think), but it''s still a great gesture. I think I''ll run it by mom mom first though! I can definitely make some pink ribbons. Our colours are mainly blues with a touch of yellow and white, so the pink will look nice.

Mom''s doing great. She''s going into surgery Tuesday and is very positive. The doctor said she''ll be fine in a month, so it can''t be very bad.

 

[doodle]

if you don''t mind my asking, what surgery are they doing? like is it a lumpectomy where they just remove the tumor and call it a day or is it more complex than that? we''re doing a dollar per guest as well--it''s a sizable donation when you have quite a few guests! if you''re calling the cancer foundation anyway, ask about ribbons, too. they might be able to hook you up since you''re donating. never hurts to ask, right?

 

[Aim_Turbo]

We''re donating in lieu of gifts as well and it''s super easy. the organization we''re donating to is called Almost Home in Kingston Ont. My fiance''s grandfather started this foundation so we''re donating in his name, it''s a home for parents to stay in while their kids are being treated at the Kingston hospital. They sent me a template of a donation card which we are printing and placing on each plate, it doesn''t say the amount donated on it and the amount wouldn''t be enough for a tax credit but I really don''t think the guests would even think about that.

 

[Octavia]

In the US, you can only claim a tax deduction if the money comes from your own bank account. You can''t "give away" tax deductions, and it would be illegal for the charity to issue tax receipts to anyone except the person who paid the money. I don''t know if this is true in Canada, so you may want to check if you think it matters to your guests.

Anchor, I hope your mom recoversquickly and completely. Best wishes and healing thoughts to your whole family.

 

[Elmorton]

We gave a donation to St. Jude Childrens Hospital and the Humane Society of the United States. If you contact an organization, often they have cards that they''ll send you (St. Jude even has them specifically for weddings, but DH and I thought the message printed was well..depressing - something along the lines of "and as we begin our journey together, we remember that no child should die in the dawn of life"), but DH and I wanted every cent of our $ to go to the charity. We made bookmarks (also fitting since we''re both writers) in our wedding colors that had a short message about how we had given a donation in honor of our guests. The bookmarks cost us less than $20 to make and were very easy to DIY.

A friend of mine simply framed a message on each table that explained the donation. Her thank you cards were purchased from that organization as well, which I thought was a really classy touch.

 

[Sabine]

I think it''s a lovely idea, and I don''t think you would need to worry about receipts or even tell your guests the amount of the donation. Since the cause is so personal to you, it might be nice to include on the card that explains the donation why the foundation was chosen and how proud you are of you mom (since I have all confidence that she will pull through this for you and your family!) As a guest, I think the story would make the donation even more touching.

 

[anchor31]

doodle - It's a lumpectomy. The tumor is very small, so they're just removing it with some of the surrounding tissue, and removing a lymph node to detect if it's spread or not. Hopefully all will go well. It'd be nice if the foundation agreed to give me some ribbons!

Aim_Turbo, Octavia and Elmorton - I'm really not concerned about receipts. For a 1$ donation per person it doesn't matter, and my guests probably won't think about it.

Sabine - That's what I need to run by my mom first, if she wants her story told. She's not certain she'll tell everyone for now.

Thanks for the lovely ideas!

 

[MMM]

this may not be something you want to do, but i just thought i would throw it out there since we are on the topic of donation favors.

in another wedding blog i love (weddingbee.com) theres a girl that is doing donations in lieu of favors as well, but instead of picking just one charity she chose 3. then, she is giving each guest 4 tokens and then the guests will get to put them toward whichever charity (or charities) they chose.

granted this idea would cost money - money that could have just gone straight to your charity. but, i think it would be of minimal cost and such a cute idea!

also, she had each chip $1, but you could just not specify what each chip actually was worth. i don''t think anyone would ask.

 

[MMM]

oh, here''s the weddingbee post:
http://www.weddingbee.com/2008/02/05/sweet-charity/

(with pictures) : )

 

[allikatac]

I think that is a wonderful idea! Your mom will be really touched. My DH and I donated to a charity as well at our wedding. We pirinted cards explaining the donation and then attached them with pink ribbons to a pink rose.

 

[doodle]

anchor, my mom had the EXACT same thing done--went smoothly, she was sore for a few days but nothing too bad, and she made a lot of bad jokes about swiss cheese boob, so we were all wondering if the doctor got confused and gave her a lobotomy first. it''s amazing how quickly and easily doctors can treat it nowadays when it''s caught early! really, the worst part about the whole thing is just the fear that accompanies--the actual surgery isn''t so bad (if that makes you feel any better at all--what i was aiming for, but it''s 9 am, and i''m an idiot in the morning!). i wouldn''t even remotely bother with receipts for the donations, although i think it CAN be written off on the taxes of whomever actually writes the organization a check, or at least, i know that''s how it works in the US.

 

[anchor31]

MMM - I really want to do it for the Canadian Breast Cancer Association because my mom has breast cancer right now. She''s one of my best friends and has helped me so much to plan this wedding that I really want to honour her.

allikatac - How much time in advance should I arrange for them? I was thinking about waiting until we got our RSVPs back, but is 3-4 weeks too soon before the wedding?

doodle - Thanks for sharing, it''s very reassuring.

 

[rms]

We got married over 3 years ago and did donations through the I DO FOUNDATION. They provided cards similar to the types that other people mentioned.
http://www.idofoundation.org/

 

[allikatac]

Date: 4/24/2008 1:56:34 PM
Author: anchor31
MMM - I really want to do it for the Canadian Breast Cancer Association because my mom has breast cancer right now. She''s one of my best friends and has helped me so much to plan this wedding that I really want to honour her.

allikatac - How much time in advance should I arrange for them? I was thinking about waiting until we got our RSVPs back, but is 3-4 weeks too soon before the wedding?

doodle - Thanks for sharing, it''s very reassuring.

I printed the cards myself and I did wait until I had all of the RSVPs to do this, which was a few weeks before. All we had to do then was hole punch the card(we used a heart shaped puncher) and then thread the ribbon through the card to attach to the rose. My Aunt then got them ready the morning of the wedding and then put one at each table setting at the venue. This really helped! Also, we donated the money a week in advance just incase a wedding guest would inquire with the association after the wedding about the donation. Hope this helps!

 

[anchor31]

Date: 4/24/2008 7:01:48 PM
Author: allikatac

Date: 4/24/2008 1:56:34 PM
Author: anchor31
MMM - I really want to do it for the Canadian Breast Cancer Association because my mom has breast cancer right now. She''s one of my best friends and has helped me so much to plan this wedding that I really want to honour her.

allikatac - How much time in advance should I arrange for them? I was thinking about waiting until we got our RSVPs back, but is 3-4 weeks too soon before the wedding?

doodle - Thanks for sharing, it''s very reassuring.

I printed the cards myself and I did wait until I had all of the RSVPs to do this, which was a few weeks before. All we had to do then was hole punch the card(we used a heart shaped puncher) and then thread the ribbon through the card to attach to the rose. My Aunt then got them ready the morning of the wedding and then put one at each table setting at the venue. This really helped! Also, we donated the money a week in advance just incase a wedding guest would inquire with the association after the wedding about the donation. Hope this helps!

It does. Thank you!

 

[sharmani]

This is a wonderful idea! I donated to the American Institute for cancer research. I copied and pasted some info from there.. hope this encourages you all to do the same

For a couple who has been touched by cancer, wedding favors in honor or memory of a loved one or simply on behalf of your guests can mean a lot. You can make a direct impact on a cause which has relevance in everyone’s life.

Donate to: The American Institute for Cancer Research

In lieu of wedding gifts, many couples choose to have their guests make a contribution to a charity in their honor.

Invitation inserts are FREE with all orders!

Please visit AICR for more information:



http://www.aicr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=how_weddings