ES App dev getting a JSON error

Hi There,

Sorry, I posted this in the ticketing system but I thought other users might need it as well and/or could be a help too.

If you can help me figure out what's wrong with the code I would greatly appreciate it. I'm getting a JSON error that reads:

SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unexpected character at line 1 column 1 of the JSON data

Here's my JS code:

EasySocial

    .require()

    .script('apps/fields/event/startend/content')

    .done(function($) {

        $('[data-giving]').addController('EasySocial.Controller.Field.Event.Startend', {

            requiredEnd: 0,

            dateFormat: '<?php echo $dateFormat; ?>',

            allowTime: 0,

            allowTimezone: 0,

            yearfrom: '<?php echo $appParams->get("yearfrom"); ?>',

            yearto: '<?php echo $appParams->get("yearto"); ?>',

            disallowPast: 0,

            calendarLanguage: '<?php echo $appParams->get("calendar_language"); ?>'

        });



    EasySocial.Controller(

        'Apps.Giving',

        {

            defaultOptions:

            {

                "{startdate}"   : "[data-giving-form-startdate]",

                "{enddate}"     : "[data-giving-form-enddate]",

                "{filter}"	    : "[data-giving-form-filter]"

            }

        },

        function(self)

        {

            return {

                "{filter} click" : function()

                {

                    //console.log()

                    EasySocial.ajax( 'apps/user/giving/controllers/giving/items' ,

                        {

                            "startdate"	: self.startdate().val(),

                            "enddate"	: self.enddate().val()

                        })

                        .done(function( item )

                        {



                        })

                        .fail( function( response )

                        {

                            self.setMessage( response );

                        });

                }

            }

        });



    // Implement the controller.

    $( '[data-giving]' ).implement( EasySocial.Controller.Apps.Giving );

});

and here is the controller file the ajax is calling:

        public function items()

	{

		// Check for request forgeries.

		FD::checkToken();



		// Ensure that the user is logged in.

		FD::requireLogin();



		// Get the ajax object.

		$ajax = FD::ajax();



		// get app model

		$model 	= $this->getModel( 'Giving' );



		$startDate  = JRequest::getVar( 'startdate' );

		$endDate    = JRequest::getVar( 'enddate' );



		// start and end date should never be empty

		if( empty( $startDate ) || empty( $endDate ) )

		{

			return $ajax->reject( JText::_('APP_USER_GIVING_EMPTY_DATES'));

		}



		// get contributions

		$items 	= $model->getItems( $startDate, $endDate );



		$theme 	= FD::themes();



		$this->set( 'items' 	    , $items );



		$contents    = $theme->output( 'apps/user/giving/dashboard/items' );



		return $ajax->resolve( $contents );

	}

Thanks,

Jackson