how to give my money away while pretending not to have done so

June 23, 2009 1:09 PM

I want to donate $500 to my favorite local volunteer-run non-profit. I'm friends with the folks who run the thing, and would prefer to remain anonymous. I know which bank we use, and can name 2-3 of the 5 people on the account. Can I just show up at the bank and deposit this money? Is there any reason why I shouldn't do this?

I don't really want to go through a lawyer, or mail a money order. I'd rather just go to the bank and deposit it to the account, if it's a legitimate option.

posted by anonymous to work & money (21 comments total)

Anyone can deposit cash into an account anonymously.

Do you know the account number? I'm guessing it's a business account, right? The only hitch I can see is that it might be a pain to look up. How accounts are indexed vary bank to bank, I am sure, but where I've worked, searching by name of business was sometimes sketchy (make sure it's the right account when they look it up!), and you couldn't search by signers on a business account.
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:13 PM on June 23

You don't need any identification at all to deposit money in someone else's account. Although it would probably be polite to send them an (anonymous) note indicating that you had done so as a donation, otherwise it will probably generate some confusion and headscratching when they try to figure out how to account for the deposit.

I don't know of any reason why you shouldn't do this, although I don't have much experiences with 501(c) stuff. I think if there are any tax problems with the donation, your anonymous note should clear it up. To be extra conscientious, you could create a throwaway e-mail that they can contact you at with questions, if there are any.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 1:14 PM on June 23

Juliet beat me to it. But yeah, 2nding that you'll probably want to find the account number first. With personal accounts, you can usually get by with just the person's name and their address, and that might work with an organization, but it might not.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 1:16 PM on June 23

I work for a non-profit and we get anonymous gifts of cash all the time. It's necessary for the fundraising/development department to be able to track donations and also for the the accounting department to be able to know the reason for the deposit. Just send it in an envelope with a note stating that it is an anonymous donation and if you would like to designate it to a specific program or project of the non-profit you can note that as well.
posted by chiababe at 1:17 PM on June 23 [1 favorite]

See if the teller can add a note to the transaction saying "anonymous donation" or similar.

The recipients might assume it was a bank error and start an investigation and/or avoid spending the money.
posted by juliplease at 1:17 PM on June 23

Is there any reason why I shouldn't do this?

The only downside to donating anon is that you won't be able to claim the donation on your taxes. If that isn't a concern, then I don't see any other downside.
posted by curlyelk at 1:18 PM on June 23

It might make the foundation uncomfortable to think that there are people they don't know who can access the firm back account.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:22 PM on June 23 [1 favorite]

See if the teller can add a note to the transaction saying "anonymous donation" or similar.

IANLABT (I am no longer a bank teller), but at my bank this would not have been possible. I love the idea of doing an anonymous cash donation at the bank, but it just doesn't seem feasible for all the reasons listed above.
posted by telegraph at 1:22 PM on June 23

I work for a bank in Canada.

If you know the transit, account number, and name on the account we will let you deposit.

Due to privacy though, we cannot search for an account for you. The reason being that we are not allowed to even confirm that a person or organization has an account with us, or that they're out customer.
posted by smitt at 1:34 PM on June 23

The only downside to donating anon is that you won't be able to claim the donation on your taxes.

Technically you can still deduct an anonymous donation, you just won't be able to prove it if you end up getting audited unless you get a receipt from the charity somehow.
posted by burnmp3s at 1:39 PM on June 23

What about getting cashiers check or something similar and sending that through their normal donation process?
posted by bitdamaged at 1:45 PM on June 23 [1 favorite]

as a nonprofit ED, I can tell you that this would cause some issues.. My auditors would ask me about it, and I wouldn't be able to explain it.

Get the money order and mail it, you'll save them a LOT of trouble....
posted by HuronBob at 2:09 PM on June 23 [5 favorites]

HuronBob is correct. Get a money order, send it to them, along with a nice note. I do this myself, so that the recipient group doesn't waste their time and mine asking for more money in a couple months.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 2:30 PM on June 23

On the receiving end, while we would love to have your donation, a strange surplus in our bank account will cause no end of accounting difficulties until the source gets resolved. An envelope with cash would be preferable, or cashiers check.

Unusual and unexplained money, either too much or too little, is going to be read as an accounting error or some other procedural problem. Depending on the size of the organization and the budget, that may cause much investigation or not, but it wouldn't go by without some concern. It would potentially be seen as a bank error and returned.
posted by gingerbeer at 2:32 PM on June 23

A money order would allow you to remain anonymous, and you could use it as a receipt for tax purposes. If you get a tax deduction, that's more money you can give away.
posted by wryly at 2:37 PM on June 23

Dealing with random deposits like this will probably cause some issues with the organization that others have outlined. Find a broker (3rd party individual) to make the donation on your behalf -- don't randomly deposit money into their account.
posted by SirStan at 2:57 PM on June 23

Mail a money order (or even cash via trackable mail). You're going to create a headache for the bookkeeper who will be trying to account for your deposit if you go to the bank anonymously.
posted by robinpME at 3:11 PM on June 23

Call the United Way, or a similar organization that works with non-profits. Ask them to facilitate the donation, specifying that they take no part of it. You still get a receipt/deduction.
posted by theora55 at 4:27 PM on June 23

In Maine, another option would be to sort of "launder' the money through an organization like Maine Community Foundation. In a nutshell, you set up an account with MCF and then they send the money to us. At the nonprofit I work for, we often get checks from MCF from donors who are totally anonymous to us.

The big advantage here is that you'll get all the tax advantages of making a donation but still get to keep a low profile with the nonprofit.

I'm not sure if MCF charges fees or not. I suspect (although can't know for sure) that your state might have a similar organization.
posted by anastasiav at 5:12 PM on June 23

Just send it in an envelope with a note stating that it is an anonymous donation and if you would like to designate it to a specific program or project of the non-profit you can note that as well.

Please don't do this. The charity will feel required to return the money if they don't want to, or cannot, honor your restrictions -- which of course will be impossible if they don't know who you are.

Unless the charity explicitly offers restricted giving options, it is much kinder to just give them money, and trust them to use it well. Restrictions cause all kinds of headaches for non-profits.
posted by Susan PG at 11:32 PM on June 23

Following up on what Susan said, the organization is legally required to return the money if they cannot or don't want to abide by your restrictions, so if you do want to restrict your donation, you should make sure it's a restriction that the organization offers.
posted by amandarose at 6:25 PM on June 24