Question:
As a result of the business I am in I frequently receive as a gift reusable household items (eg. locks, switches , light fixtures, etc). They are not worth enough to try to sell, but instead I thought it would be a good idea to give them away provided the recipient offered to give a donation (through me) in whatever amount they want, to my local synagogue. I also tell them that the donation would be anonymous i.e. the synagogue would not know who the donation came from. Our Rabbi assured me that any money I give (which includes for example annual membership dues) to the synagogue is legally a donation since the synagogue is a religious organization. My question is the following. When I forward money I received for some household item to the synagogue, can I ask the office to apply the donated money to my annual membership dues?
Answer:
My understanding of your question, is that you get people to donate money to the synagogue, and you want to know if you can count this toward your membership dues. It would be best to discuss this with the management of the shul, as I don’t know what their policy is regarding this.
Best wishes
