Donations on Youtube.

[BustedBreaks]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Maryland

I'm not sure if this is in the right section, but,

I am interested in starting a youtube channel where I post instructional videos on topics in math and eventually scientific topics. I would also like to have some sort of donation button where people, who are so inclined, can donate money to my cause. I am a college student who plans on spending a lot of time in school so I'd like to find a bunch of funding options, this being one. I would also like to donate some percentage of the donations, if I get any, to a charity. I want to make this transparent and legal lest people think that I'm asking for donations for myself under the guise of it going to charity. How should I go about doing this?


Thank you!

[Hot Topic]

The first thing you should do is run your idea past YouTube to see if it would be allowed under their Terms of Service.

Instructional videos don't constitute a "cause." You want to use them to help fund your education, period, and you think your idea will be more attractive if you say that some of the money will go to charity.

You may be an excellent student, but what are your qualifications to be a teacher?

[BustedBreaks]

Originally Posted by Hot Topic

The first thing you should do is run your idea past YouTube to see if it would be allowed under their Terms of Service.

Instructional videos don't constitute a "cause." You want to use them to help fund your education, period, and you think your idea will be more attractive if you say that some of the money will go to charity.

You may be an excellent student, but what are your qualifications to be a teacher?

I am a math major and I know the topics I want to instruct very well, however, I don't have any formal qualifications to "teach." The videos I make will be free to whoever wants them and the choice to donate will be solely their own, so I don't feel as though I need to have formal qualifications to do this. Also, it's math, the watcher will know if I've been helpful or not.

I do think there is a cause here, it's my cause. I want to get an Astronomy degree and I need money to do so. I could probably solicit donations just based on that fact and not provide anything, but I don't want to do that.

I have been in contact with the organization I want to donate the money to and have explained very specifically my idea. There doesn't seem to be a problem as I'm not asking for any compensation, exposure, or affiliation with them.

Yes I do think giving away some of it will drive up donations and that is primarily why I thought to do it, however I do genuinely support the organization I picked and like I said, have been in contact with them.

By the tone of your comment, it seems you thought I was trying to do something shady. I'm not. I'm honestly trying to solicit donations from people after having provided something I feel will be helpful.

My legal questions, besides checking with YouTube, which I didn't think of, would be, in the event that I get donations, what do I have to do in terms of tax? Do I have to report this income if it's less than a certain amount? Does the fact that I'm giving some to an organization matter? I am planning on keeping detailed records of donations and keeping a site where I can make all of the relevant information available for anyone who wants to see it. I plan on providing proof of enrollment etc, anything and everything to show that I want and am genuinely trying to be honest about it all.

[Country Living]

Do you think you can get more money by investing in an online teaching system instead of tutoring? You need to seriously think about what you could offer that's different than existing online sites. The competition is pretty tough.

[BustedBreaks]

Originally Posted by Country Living

Do you think you can get more money by investing in an online teaching system instead of tutoring? You need to seriously think about what you could offer that's different than existing online sites. The competition is pretty tough.

I don't expect to make money right away, nor do I expect to make a lot. My main tuition will be about $1500 - $2000 a semester as I will only be taking classes part time and I'll have a job. At the end of this semester I'll have made $1000 TAing a class that I plan on doing again, and I won't need the money until Fall 2011 so if I start saving now by then I'll hopefully have made enough to sustain the 6 semesters I'll need to be in school. I'd rather do it this way and as long as I'm getting some donations I'll be happy and again, I don't plan on this being a huge source of income.

I just want to know the legalities I mentioned before I start asking for donations:

In the event that I get donations, what do I have to do in terms of tax? Do I have to report this income if it's less than a certain amount? Does the fact that I'm giving some to an organization matter?

[Country Living]

Put the tax portion of your question in the tax section of the forum so one of the tax experts will see it. They might not wander by this section.

[FlyingRon]

You must report your income on Sched C. You can deduct your legitimate expenses on the same form. You generally can't take a loss on things that aren't intended to be profit making businesses but it can reduce the effective income from that activity to zero. You'll have to go through the regular procedure for deducting charitable contributions.

[BustedBreaks]

Originally Posted by FlyingRon

You generally can't take a loss on things that aren't intended to be profit making businesses but it can reduce the effective income from that activity to zero. You'll have to go through the regular procedure for deducting charitable contributions.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Could you explain a little more.