Yeah unfortunately the time and place it happened can change the legalities tremendously, but in general right now it appears that at least the type mentioned in the OP is in fact a donation from the customer directly to the charity. The business who is acting as a middleman will not have the donation affect their books, and the customer can keep these receipts so they can claim the donation on their own taxes.
Even if you don’t itemize your deductions, you can still claim up to 300$ in donations.
Edit: Apparently this was a temporary thing with the CARES act for 2020 and 2021 and is no longer active.
Yeah unfortunately the time and place it happened can change the legalities tremendously, but in general right now it appears that at least the type mentioned in the OP is in fact a donation from the customer directly to the charity. The business who is acting as a middleman will not have the donation affect their books, and the customer can keep these receipts so they can claim the donation on their own taxes.
Even if you don’t itemize your deductions, you can still claim up to 300$ in donations.
Edit: Apparently this was a temporary thing with the CARES act for 2020 and 2021 and is no longer active.