Q: How do fundraising sites such as GoFundMe make money? Do they take a percentage of funds raised? And do the fund recipients pay taxes on the money they receive?
—David A. Manecke, Mableton
A: Fundraising sites, such as GoFundMe, Kickstarter and Indiegogo, generally take a percentage of what's raised.
GoFundMe automatically deducts 5 percent from each donation that’s received.
Kickstarter “applies a 5 percent fee” if a campaign is successfully funded, but no fees if a project isn’t funded.
Those sites also generally charge processing fees of 3-5 percent per donation.
Recipients of crowdfunding campaigns should consult their tax preparer regarding potential taxes on the money earned from the campaign.
“Amounts received through reward-based crowdfunding campaigns most likely are taxable income … to be reported by the creator in the year of receipt,” the Journal of Accountancy wrote in October 2015.
The Journal of Accountancy is published by the American Institute of CPAs.
Q: Do hit by pitch and errors contribute to on-base percentage in baseball?
—David Dickey, Dallas
A: The times a batter is hit by a pitch is included in the formula for on-base percentage, but reaching base on an error isn't included.
The formula for on-base percentage is the total of hits, walks and hit by pitch divided by at-bats, walks, hit by pitch and sacrifice flies.
Reaching on a fielder’s choice and on sacrifice bunts aren’t included in the formula.
“(On-base percentage) reads like batting average, but because it incorporates walks, OBPs are about 60 points higher on average,” Fangraphs.com states.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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