Donations of any kind work, as long as they are itemized with a receipt from a registered 501c3 charity organization. (Including some 501c4 organizations such as Veterans' organizations with 90% war vet membership and volunteer fire departments)

You can only receive tax deductions if they are itemized on your Schedule A Form (1040), Itemized Deductions 

However donating to a NY based nonprofit will not mean that you’ll be considered a NYS resident. The Tax Department will have to consider a few main factors and contact us to learn more about being considered a NYS resident. 

Cash contributions subject to the limit based on 60% of AGI. Deduct the contributions that don't exceed 60% of your AGI.

Non-cash contributions (other than qualified conservation contributions) are subject to the limit based on 50% of AGI.

For our purposes, the general especially if it’s a cash contribution it shouldn’t exceed 60% of your Adjusted Gross Income for the year and if it's a non-cash contribution, it shouldn’t exceed 50% of AGI. 

There is no specific limit on “how much money” you have to give to registered nonprofits in order to get tax deducted, however they’re a few things to look out for:

For any contribution of $250 or more (including contributions of cash or property), you must obtain and keep in your records a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the qualified organization indicating the amount of the cash and a description of any property other than cash contributed.  One document from the qualified organization may satisfy both the written communication requirement for monetary gifts and the contemporaneous written acknowledgment requirement for all contributions of $250 or more.

If you donate non-cash contributions, such as property/vehicles, only the FMV (Fair Market Value) of these objects will be deducted. 

Specifics to tax write-offs do vary based on location, so if you want to get a personalized assessment of how your region would affect your deductions, please contact us.