Interesting article in the Weekend Wall Street Journal:  How to Give Away Your Money:  New Law Cracks Down on Abuse, But Complicates Donations; A Receipt for Church Offerings, by Rachel Emma Silverman:

One of the most noble tax breaks available — giving to charity — is getting trickier. This year, as part of the summer’s landmark pension-reform bill, an array of rule changes are being implemented that encourage philanthropy while also cracking down on abuses of the system. One of the most important new incentives: Older individuals may now donate as much as $100,000 a year to charities directly from their individual retirement accounts, enabling them to avoid paying income tax on those sums.

However, it is also getting tougher to give away noncash property, whether it is dingy old clothes or pricey works of art. Too many people, it seems, were overestimating the value of gifts like these to score a fat tax break. Another change: Starting Jan 1., you can’t take deductions for small cash gifts without a specific paper trail. In other words, toss money into a church collection plate or cut a quick check to a charity, and you will need a receipt (or a bank record) to get the deduction….

"We consider this to be the most comprehensive reform of the sector since the 1969 tax act," says Diana Aviv of Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofit groups. Although charities have been critical of some of the measures, in general, Ms. Aviv says, "We think they went a long way" toward stopping "unscrupulous individuals from enriching themselves at our expense."