Taxes for donations for legal expenses or humanitarian support

I was asked by a volunteer about what would be federal taxes for Jiang and/or his family if they accept donations for either their legal or living expenses, or just pure gifts. 

I googled around.

• For receiver: A simple answer seems like the receiver will pay zero income tax for a small amount donation (<$10,000) from a donor. This rule can apply to multiple donors as long as each of the donation does not exceed the threshold.  So even though a receiver received $100,000 total donations, he/she may still not need to pay income tax as long as each donor does not donation the threshold.

• For donors: The donations are not tax-deductible for donors neither since Jiang is not a non-profit organization.

I paste my sources below. Free feel to add your comments.

http://askville.amazon.com/pay-taxes-money-donated-result-hardship/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=2994152

$11,000 can be gifted untaxed

According to a CPA I consulted after the death of my brother, you can give up to $11,000 as a gift to a person in one calendar year before gift taxes are imposed.  This came up because we decided to keep my brother's house for my parents and had to pay off the mortgage of $55k.  He told me I could give each parent up to $11k.  He also told me to pay it all off I could make similar gifts to my siblings and then they could gift it to my parents.  We the assistance of two of my remaining siblings we pasted the money around and got the house paid off using my brother's life insurance of which I was the beneficiary.   I wasn't sure if this was just a state law or a federal law but I looked it up and found the below link that agrees with me. The general rule is that any gift is a taxable gift. However, there are many exceptions to this rule. Generally, the following gifts are not taxable gifts. Gifts that are not more than the annual exclusion for the calendar year. Tuition or medical expenses you pay for someone (the educational and medical exclusions). Gifts to your spouse. Gifts to a political organization for its use. Gifts to qualified charities (a deduction is available for these amounts). Annual Exclusion A separate annual exclusion applies to each person to whom you make a gift. For 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, the annual exclusion is $11,000. Therefore, you generally can give up to $11,000 each to any number of people in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, and $12,000 in 2006 and none of the gifts will be taxable. If you are married, both you and your spouse can separately give up to $11,000 to the same person in 2002, 2003, 2004 or 2005 ($12,000 in 2006) without making a taxable gift. If one of you gives more than $11,000/$12,000 to a person in any one of these years, refer to gift splitting in Publication 950, Introduction to Estate and Gift Taxes. Gifts to individuals are not deductible on the donor's income tax returns.

http://www.gofundme.com/how-to-fundraise/

16. What about taxes?

We're unable to provide specific tax advice since everyone's situation is different.
While this is no means a guarantee, most donations on GoFundMe are simply
considered to be 'personal gifts' which are not taxed as income in the US.

Additionally, only donations made to a legally registered non-profit or charity may
be considered eligible for donors to claim as a tax deduction. Again, every situation
 is different so please consult with a tax professional in your area.