zlacker

>>moored+(OP)
The reason for matching gifts is because charities run into problems if they only have a few donors - the IRS starts to assume they are not a real charity instead they are a tax dodge for the rich. It is easy to setup a charity that really exists to put a tiny amount of money into some cause while spending most of the money on things that help donors. One sign the IRS looks for (because this is easy to look for) is total number of donors. While you can fool a few people, they assume if there are a lot of small donors most of them are not fool - instead they believe in the mission of the charity.

Thus if you are a rich person trying to donate a lot of money to a truly good cause the charity will sometimes be forced to refuse your money despite needing it - just to keep the IRS away. To get around this they will match, thus ensuring that plenty of little donors to keep the IRS away from the charity while allowing them to make the large donation they were planning on making. These are always structured with the hope to give the full amount, so if you are planning on a small donation it is to your advantage to donate during a match since otherwise your charity might not get as much from the rich person.

Note that none of the above applies to politics where there are laws in place limiting total donations per person that a match cannot get around.

>>bluGil+c21
> Thus if you are a rich person trying to donate a lot of money to a truly good cause the charity will sometimes be forced to refuse your money despite needing it - just to keep the IRS away.

I would be very surprised if this is true for most legit charities. I am pretty involved with a couple of 501c3s and I do not think any of them would turn away a valid donation from a reputable individual out of fear of the IRS.