Who to make a donation to?
Who can you really trust?
These are legitimate questions that a donor asks himself in the face of the vastness of the current offer. The risk of leaving your money in bad hands is high if you consider that in Italy there are 6,200 foundations alone, while overall, according to the latest Istat census of 2011, the universe of the Third sector (which also includes non-profit organizations, volunteering, social promotion associations, philanthropic bodies, association networks and amateur sports clubs) is a galaxy made up of 300 thousand organizations, with 64 billion in revenues and about 6 million people involved.
“We have drawn up the seven rules for safe donations”, declares Edoardo Patriarca (photo), president of the Italian Donation Institute, with the aim of providing citizens with simple indications to verify if an organization behaves in a serious and transparent way ” .
The institute has recently launched a campaign, “Donate without surprises”, which allows you to easily choose an association to make a donation to safely as it only shows realities included in #iodonosicuro, the first non-profit database composed only of organizations verified.
Verification is carried out through annual tools and checks and at the end the non-profit body is granted the “Donate with confidence” brand, which certifies its work according to internationally recognized standards, which meet the criteria of transparency, credibility and honesty.
The Italian Donation Institute bases its activities on the Donation Charter, the first Italian self-regulation code for the collection and use of funds in non-profit organizations .
One way to make sure that a non-profit organization is not a bin is belonging to a recognized network, especially if the goal is a donation abroad. Another way to make safe donations is through web platforms guaranteed by solid banking groups, such as Terzo Valore (terzovalore.com) of Banca Prossima of the Intesa Sanpaolo group.
- The donor can contribute with a loan to the realization of projects of social utility presented by non-profit organizations and validated by the bank itself.
- The money lent by citizens is guaranteed by Banca Prossima and therefore is in no case lost.
Tax concessions
The reform of the Third Sector has also introduced changes from a fiscal point of view for donations to ETS (Third Sector entities). The current rules that provide tax concessions for donations to commercial and non-commercial non-profit organizations will therefore be progressively abrogated, subject to Community authorizations and in any case starting from the moment in which the Single Register is operational.
“The subjects external to the Ets system will continue to apply Book I of the civil code, the Tuir from a tax point of view and any special sector regulations”, explains Maurizio Postal, national advisor to chartered accountants and accounting experts with delegation to non profit and taxation.
“The Ets, on the other hand, will find almost all of its regulation in the Third Sector Code (Cts), both from a civil and tax point of view”.
The new regime provides for the deductibility or deductibility of donations made only if they are made in favor of non-commercial ETS (as qualified pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 5 of article 79 of the reform code), with details and additional benefits if the beneficiary is a voluntary organization.
The same regime, however, can also be applied to payments made in favor of commercial Ets, social cooperatives and social enterprises (not incorporated in company form) provided that the donations received are used for carrying out the statutory activity. , for the exclusive pursuit of civic, solidarity and social utility purposes.