Non-Profit Organization Question

[JohnH]

I don't know much about Non-profit organizations, so here's a question for anyone who does. A person serves as a director and is reimbursed for trips to directors meetings. Reimbursments are reasonable travel & lodging - nothing unusual or extravagant. If a director considers the cost of the trips to be a part of his service and doesn't require reimbursement, does it matter whether he simply foregoes reimbursement or submits receipts, accepts the reimbursement, and then makes a donation of the same amount back to the organization?

This really isn't a tax question because the net tax effect is the same either way. I'm just curious about which handling of the transactions would reflect better on the organization's reports ( if it matters).

[Koss]

Nonprofit

To answer your question, I'm going to assume that the organization is tax exempt. (Not all nonprofit orgs are tax exempt.)

It probably doesn't make a difference from the standpoint of the organization's books and records. As you observed, the net effect is the same for the organization.

The net effect is also the same for the director. Keep in mind that if the director does not submit his receipts, and he does not get reimbursed, and does not make a cash donation, he still has a deductible charitable contribution. His costs would be deductible expenses associated with volunteer service to a charitable organization.

BMK