Charitable mileage

[Spork]

We work a bit with an animal rescue organization.  I am just starting to look at mileage and wondering if it is worth it to track.  (It will probably not be worth it for 2016 since it's late in the year, but wondering about the future.)

I am assuming things like this are allowed at the IRS $0.14/mile:

* transport of animals from one shelter to another in a distant city
* round trip from home to shelter to feed animals.  (At 14c a mile, this is easily over $500 a year right here.)

They are an extremely small organization, but do have a legit charity tax id. 

These are things I'm going to be doing whether or not I get a deduction.  Right now we don't generally hit a number that is high enough to merit itemizing, but we've been talking about upping this portion of our budget as we get more and more confident in our FIRE numbers.  I don't really want to go down a path that just sets off audit flags with the IRS.  (Like I say: we'll be doing this for our own enjoyment.)

[robartsd]

These certainly sound like legitimate charitable miles to me. Unfortunately legitimate charitable use is not the same as not setting off audit flags. Unless the non-profit reports your support to the IRS in some way, the IRS has no way to know that you're doing legitimate charitable work until they audit you.

[Sibley]

To protect yourself in the event of IRS questions, keep a log of trips. Date, miles, purpose, etc. There are apps for this if you want.

IRS publication: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf.   See p.19