Would like to give a % of profits from my film to charity. Then hoping that IndiGoGo donations could be tax deductable to my donors. Possible?
How could I get my film associated with a charity?
- Thread starter Conroy Films
- Start date
I doubt you could do it that way, unless possibly you gave all the indigogo money directly to the charity - even then it might be pretty difficult.
What you can do is find a non-profit organization to be your 'fiscal sponsor'. What this set up donations go directly to them - so they are tax deductible - and then they give the funds to you as part of their normal operations. Generally they will keep a portion of the money donated, 5-10%, although under some agreements that doesn't kick in until you hit a minimum level. It all depends on the agreement you work out with them, and many organizations that do this will have a standard agreement.
Under this model though they are essentially funding your project, even though the money may come to them from a variety of donors, grants, etc. This means for them to get involved your film will generally have to fit into whatever the mission of their organization is pretty directly. So a non-profit organization working to fight homelessness may be willing to be a fiscal sponsor on a film that has the plight of the homeless as it's central theme, but isn't likely to be interested in a romantic comedy or action film. Because of that it's more common for these relationships to happen with documentary films rather than fiction.
And even if you get a fiscal sponsor I don't know if you could raise the money through indigogo. The only way I could see it working is if the non-profit ran the campaign themselves, so that the money was going to them - but since the money goes to indigogo first, then is passed to the charity, I'm not sure how that works; you'd need to look into if indigogo has procedures in place for working with non-profits.
What you can do is find a non-profit organization to be your 'fiscal sponsor'. What this set up donations go directly to them - so they are tax deductible - and then they give the funds to you as part of their normal operations. Generally they will keep a portion of the money donated, 5-10%, although under some agreements that doesn't kick in until you hit a minimum level. It all depends on the agreement you work out with them, and many organizations that do this will have a standard agreement.
Under this model though they are essentially funding your project, even though the money may come to them from a variety of donors, grants, etc. This means for them to get involved your film will generally have to fit into whatever the mission of their organization is pretty directly. So a non-profit organization working to fight homelessness may be willing to be a fiscal sponsor on a film that has the plight of the homeless as it's central theme, but isn't likely to be interested in a romantic comedy or action film. Because of that it's more common for these relationships to happen with documentary films rather than fiction.
And even if you get a fiscal sponsor I don't know if you could raise the money through indigogo. The only way I could see it working is if the non-profit ran the campaign themselves, so that the money was going to them - but since the money goes to indigogo first, then is passed to the charity, I'm not sure how that works; you'd need to look into if indigogo has procedures in place for working with non-profits.
Here is what Kickstarter says:
Is my pledge tax deductible?
In general, no. However, some projects started by or with a 501(c)(3) organization may offer tax deductions. If so, this will be touted on the project page. If you have questions about tax deductions, please contact the project creator directly via the "send message" button next to the creator’s name at the top of the project page.
Is my pledge tax deductible?
In general, no. However, some projects started by or with a 501(c)(3) organization may offer tax deductions. If so, this will be touted on the project page. If you have questions about tax deductions, please contact the project creator directly via the "send message" button next to the creator’s name at the top of the project page.
IndieGoGo is saying you could get some one to sponsor your charity for $100 and they would give the film $80. Essentially giving 20% to the charity before the movie even starts. The charity would give the donator a tax-deductable reciept. Nice.