DONATE CRYPTOCURRENCY

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona is now accepting donations via cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, dogecoin and Ethereum.

Cryptocurrency Donation FAQs

WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY?

Cryptocurrency, also known as Virtual Currency or “Crypto,” is a digital asset designed to function as an alternative to sovereign fiat currency (US Dollars, for example) whereby transactions between two parties are verified through a public, distributed ledger, also known as a blockchain. Most people think of Bitcoin and/or Ether when they hear the word “Crypto,” and while Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency and most widely followed, there are a number of cryptocurrencies currently available.

WHAT IS THE ENGIVEN PLATFORM?

The Engiven platform is a third-party vendor-provided donation software technology that enables nonprofits to safely and securely receive cryptocurrency donations and then convert those donations into usable fiat currency such as US dollars. Learn more about Engiven here.

IS IT LEGAL FOR RONALD McDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA TO ACCEPT DONATIONS OF CRYPTOCURRENCY?

Yes. It is lawful for a nonprofit to accept a donation in the form of a cryptocurrency. On March 2014, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruled that Bitcoin is treated as property for tax purposes (IRS Notice 2014-21).

HOW ARE CRYPTOCURRENCY DONATIONS TREATED FOR FEDERAL TAX PURPOSES?

Cryptocurrency is treated as property by the IRS. For U.S. tax purposes, transactions using virtual currency must be reported in U.S. dollars. Therefore, taxpayers will be required to determine the fair market value of virtual currency in U.S. dollars as of the date of donation. If a virtual currency is listed on an exchange and the exchange rate is established by market supply and demand, the fair market value of the virtual currency is determined by converting the virtual currency into U.S. dollars (or into another real currency which in turn can be converted into U.S. dollars) at the exchange rate, in a reasonable manner that is consistently applied. Donors who give cryptocurrency donations to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona will receive an electronic donation receipt (through the Engiven donation platform) in US dollars with comprehensive details about each transaction.

DOES MY DONATION QUALIFY FOR THE ARIZONA TAX CREDIT?

No, donations of cryptocurrency are considered donations of property, and thus do not qualify for the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit. The Arizona Department of Revenue states that tax credit-eligible donations must be made in cash. While you could convert your cryptocurrency to US Dollars elsewhere and then donate to RMHC, please be aware that there may be other considerations (such as capital gains) to take into account. If you have other questions, we recommend that you consult your tax advisor.

IS THE PROCESS OF GIVING CRYPTOCURRENCY SAFE AND SECURE?

As with any form of electronic payment or transaction, there are risks, however, our vendor Engiven has created certain safeguards they believe are needed to ensure that the transaction is secure. With the transfer of cryptocurrency from donor to nonprofit, Engiven believes the transaction can actually be more secure than many other forms of payment, provided certain protocols are followed: 1) By using the Engiven platform, both the nonprofit and the donor are required to undergo a simple but effective Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) screening which provides a high level of background security to ensure both parties are properly screened. 2) As with any cryptocurrency transaction, when transferring your tokens to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona wallet to make a donation, do not expose or share your wallet’s private keys at any time.

HOW DOES RMHC SOUTHERN ARIZONA USE MY GIFT OF BITCOIN OR OTHER CRYPTOCURRENCY?

Through the Engiven platform, RMHC Southern Arizona will immediately convert your gift of bitcoin, ether, litecoin, or other cryptocurrency to US Dollars. Unless otherwise designated, funds are then used to support the general operations of the charity.

WHICH CRYPTOCURRENCIES DOES RONALD McDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA ACCEPT?

Currently, RMHC of Southern Arizona accepts bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC), 1inch (1INCH), aave (AAVE), ampleforth (AMP), balancer (BAL), basic attention token (BAT), bitcoin cash (BCH), bancor (BNT), BarnBridge (BOND), compound (COMP), curve (CRV), Somnium space cubes (CUBE), dai (DAI), dogecoin (DOGE), enjin coin (ENJ), filecoin (FIL), The Graph (GRT), Injective Protocol (INJ), Kyber network crystal (KNC), chainlink (LINK), livepeer (LPT), loopring (LRC), decentraland (MANA), polygon (MATIC), maker (MKR), orchid (OXT), PAX Gold (PAXG), ren (REN), The Sandbox (SAND), SKALE Network (SKL), synthetix (SNX), storj (STORJ), sushiswap (SUSHI), uma (UMA), uniswap (UNI), yearn.finance (YFI), Zcash (ZEC), 0x (ZRX).