Corrective Surgery Financial Donations

[Paul Morgan]

I am interested in learning more about how I can donate funds to specific children who need corrective surgery. Does anybody have any suggestions of how I can educate myself on the options available?

[Greg Bowden]

Paul:


As a professional fundraiser, I thought I could offer some input on your idea of donating money toward a child's surgery.
First of all, I should offer some praise for your generous spirit. I have two daughters with cleft lip and palate and I can't imagine what I would do if I couldn't pay for the necessary treatments.
Assuming you are in the US, you can not make a charitable contribution which benefits a specific person. Similarly, if you contribute money to an organization which assists people with medical bills, you can not stipulate to the organization who you want them to help. That is to say, the gift would not be tax deductible if you placed such restrictions on it.
Of course, you can make contributions without such restrictions to a group that helps people with medical bills. Doctors Without Borders and Operation Smile are two groups that come to mind as providing medical care in the third world where economy and technology diminish peoples' options.
There is the option of setting up a Medical Savings Account, which is essentially a tax shelter for money that can only be used for anticipated medical expenses. But I think there are some restrictions that it has to be a family member. Check with a CPA.
Hope this helps. Respond here if I can help further.