Is donate now, play later a smart way to donate to charities?

Is donate now, play later a smart way to donate to charities?

On Behalf of | Sep 19, 2022 | Charitable Giving, Estate Planning

If you’re thinking about donating in New York, you might see certain organizations offering options that let you donate now and pay later. With inflation on the rise, it makes sense for charities to offer payment plans to donors. But is donating now and paying later a smart way to donate to charity? Here’s a closer look at the good and bad things about charitable installment plans.

You’ll spend more money

At first, installment donation plans seem like an easy way to make big purchases without saving up money. But, there’s a catch: most companies behind buy now, pay later models also get a cut of your payment. For charitable installment plans, that cut can be anywhere from 8-15% of your total donation. If you plan on donating a lot of money, an installment company’s cut could be a sizeable portion of what you donate.

Taking away donation barriers

Whether it happens for estate planning or personal reasons, many charitable donations come from a person’s emotions. When a person or company is ready to donate, making installment plans stops them from waiting until the full donation amount is ready.

Complicating the donation process

Most people and companies feel great about making donations to charities. However, no one wants the donation process to be time-consuming or complicated. Unfortunately, that’s sometimes the reality if you donate through a donate now and pay later option.

As you can see, there are good and bad things about donating to a charity through an installment plan. If possible, it’s wise to see what donation options a charity has before giving it money through a donate now and pay later service.