sbw129

One of my clients would like to donate use of his airplane to a Hospital for a few days to help them transport sick individuals. The Hospital is requesting a sample acknowledgement letter that they can issue for this use. Does anyone have any experience with this? it would be great if I could get a sample template that someone has received/produced in the past.

Yoshi212

I don't have what you want but I have worked with organizing such trips for a client of mine (hospital) via a company that has several corporate jets. One thing you want as part of the contract, which I feel your client's attorney should writeup themselves, is working for indemnification not only for the safety of those being transported but also if there is failure of the plane or cancelation of service for any reason. I can't talk about the specific incident but people that lose loved ones can do things they normally wouldn't after a loss.

Adam1222

The info desk isn't designed as a tax law forum. Perhaps the Flyertalk Cares forum can help. But presumably someone who owns an airplane can afford to obtain counsel to do this. I wouldn't rely on free advice from a miles and points board.

LondonElite

Hospitals usually have either retained counsel or a legal team well-skilled in drafting these letters (certainly in US and also in all industrialised countries). Start with them rather than, as Adam says, some random template from a chat room.

FirstInFlight

An acknowledgement letter, I believe is a request for a proposal - what some would call a term sheet. From that, an actual agreement would be negotiated and drafted. The proposal would outline the proposed terms: is it a wet or dry arrangement; aircraft only or crewed; mileage or hourly usage limitations etc. The hospital could then assess if it is interested in pursuing the conversation.

Some potential benefactors, with the best of intentions, have no idea how much cost their "gift" can cause. The hospital is likely asking if this proposal has been thought through.

chgoeditor

This is very puzzling.

First, if the hospital is a non-profit, then the issuance of an acknowledgement letter should be very routine. The letter should include:

* Name of the charity and name of the donor
* Information about the charity's non-profit status
* The date of the donation
* A description of the goods or services received
* Whether the donor received anything of value in return

Whether you're donating concert tickets, clothing, a piece of art, a used car, the use of an airplane or anything else, those are the key elements to include when the donation is valued at $250 or more. It's worrying that the hospital's development office doesn't realize this, and makes me wonder whether the hospital is, in fact, a non-profit. If they're not, then this isn't a tax-deductible donation.

I can't imagine why anyone would use the term "acknowledgement letter" to describe what you're suggesting. The term "acknowledgement letter" has a very specific meaning in the eyes of registered 501(c)3 non-profits and the IRS.

Kagehitokiri

chgoeditor, perhaps looking for description and valuation?

OP's donor may not care about / be motivated by deduction

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...-aviation-754/
might be best forum

chgoeditor

The non-profit should not be assign a value to the donation. That's the donor's responsibility or that of an independent appraiser.

Kagehitokiri

right, was unclear what donor sent that prompted request for sample

but i agree with your comments, and it may be that its not nonprofit

FirstInFlight

I'm making an assumption, admittedly always a dangerous move, that the hospital is using the wrong terminology. The non-profit usually doesn't care about the tax deduction since claiming and proving it is the donor's responsibility. The non-profit usually cares about a host of other issues that are raised when they are asked to accept unusual gifts like a wine collection or use of an airplane.

chgoeditor

If the hospital isn't a non-profit, then there is no need for an acknowledgement letter. The plane's owner is free to let the hospital use the plane, but it's not a tax-deductible charitable donation.

beckoa

Welcome to Flyertalk sbw129.

We'll relocate this to an alternate forum as this isn't specific to the Information Desk.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

Herb687

There are so many potential FAA and IRS issues here that there is no way I would be asking this question on an internet bulletin board.

Seek competent tax and aviation counsel. Emphasis on the latter. You are stepping into a potential minefield here.