It is difficult to run a volunteer organization. Sometimes people get volunteers that really don't understand the whole marketing scheme of how to get people to donate and participate. On one hand you have people marketing, inviting everyone, making the proper press releases. Then you have people in line or working the sales that are insulting to donors or uninviting people from the event they did not even throw themselves! Every now and then, you have an organizer that is just not right for the position. Most of the time, that is not the case though. It is a good idea to mention your experience to the organizer so they can present the ideas at meeting that they want to be inviting. Any plant sale I ever attended was sold out in the first hours. It would be really nice to get a greater abundance of available plants and support the plant as donators and buyers! Other people's behavior does not give me an excuse to act act badly. I would go graciously to another plant sale or as a donator elsewhere. That is how I have handled donations in the past.

Thanks Marla - taxes are going to be hard to figure this year, gotta use a CPA and not do it myself (I have been doing our personal ones for years, even did business when I was single and sold Tupperware). Let's say they decide they want Wild Grape Jelly and Autumn Fruit Jam (made with wild grapes, apples, store-bought plums, sugar and spices). I planned on asking for the jars back. I used 4 plums (have to look up cost but say $2) and 1.5 lb of sugar (at 64 cents/lb) plus our own grapes and apples for the Autumn Fruit jam, they may take 1/2 the batch so that's $1.48 and a few cents for lemon juice and spices say $1.50. Jelly used same amount of sugar so another 50 cents - that's $2 cost (maybe include cost of 6 lids so another 87 cents but I'm getting jars back). So $2.87 plus electricity? For 6 jars of jams worth $36 at market. Wild grapes and apples are "free" (except for my labor picking and preparing, and DH's labor clearing the brush around the old apple trees, pruning them, etc.). So what do I claim as the value of my donation? If they want Wild Blackberry Jam again cost of sugar is 25-30 cents per jar, berries are "free" but I get $5/pint when I sell the berries at market (and charge $1 more for jam that takes a pint to make a pint to make up for the sugar and the jar, that doesn't even cover electricity and some people think $6 is too much). So would the blackberry jam be worth more as a donation than the grape, since I can sell blackberries and I'm assuming no one would buy wild grapes so they're "worthless" at market? Might be easier just to let my aunt who contacted me pay for them and she can take the deduction off her personal income tax?

We have always kept a good tally of our deductions, and also tithe. We had been keeping those tallies for years, and giving as much as we could feel comfortable giving, and found out after the fact that we usually did not exceed the standard deduction. We don't hold a mortgage, and that could be why. Since finding that out (we have an accountant do our returns), I am more careful now on my timing for contributions, monies into an IRA, expenditures, capitol gains. I donate to charities/churches because I want to help them, but there is nothing wrong with also being able to use it to offset taxes if you can. I guess standard deductions are nice, but if you don't exceed them, even when you give generously, and others who don't give anything still get the same tax breaks......well, it sort of takes the hair off where fairness is concerned. I have been known to make phone calls to my accountant to ask "Is this a good time to buy capital equipment?", "Is this a good time to make a withdrawal from a deferred account?" It really helps to sit down at times other than tax time, to crunch your numbers after the fact and project what your tax liabilites will be or how you can plan deductions to your best tax benefits. Like you are doing, btw. But a lot of people don't. Always run your household finances, like it were a business.

Quiltglo, I was so exited to read that. I even signed up for an Its Deductible account... and then I paged through to the FAQ and got this: --- What's new with ItsDeductible? For 2007 tax returns, we'll integrate ItsDeductible into TurboTax. You won't have to download the ItsDeductible product or worry about the desktop vs. online import issues. Our goal is to create a simple, no-fuss way to enter and track charitable donations. Because of this integration into TurboTax, ItsDeductible is no longer available for purchase as a stand-alone product. Instead, we're now offering ItsDeductible Tracker. This online Tracker is free to use and helps you organize your donations year-round. It's a great way to make sure no item is overlooked during tax time. Where are my item values? ItsDeductible Tracker does not show item values. However, you can see what all of your donations are worth once you've imported the information into your 2007 TurboTax return.* What if I need my item values now? Unfortunately, the only way to see item values is to import your ItsDeductible Tracker information into your 2007 TurboTax return. After importing, you can make any necessary changes within TurboTax. -------- GRRRRRR! I guess I will be doing this the old fashioned way.