Comments on: Seeing the Forest for the Trees http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/ Nonprofits Assistance Fund shares thoughts and insights on nonprofit management and finance Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:53:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Kate Barr http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/comment-page-1/#comment-14189 Kate Barr Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:28:02 +0000 http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/#comment-14189 James - I acknowledge that a reduction in the level of deductability won't be beneficial for giving. I'm calling into question (a) whether this is a tsunami problem or a rain storm, and (b) whether a big systems view is needed to weigh this impact with the possibility of health care reform. Thanks for your thoughts. We have much to work on. Kate Barr James -
I acknowledge that a reduction in the level of deductability won’t be beneficial for giving. I’m calling into question (a) whether this is a tsunami problem or a rain storm, and (b) whether a big systems view is needed to weigh this impact with the possibility of health care reform. Thanks for your thoughts. We have much to work on.

Kate Barr

]]> By: James V. Koch http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/comment-page-1/#comment-14168 James V. Koch Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:14:33 +0000 http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/#comment-14168 Permit me to weigh in on the opposite side. No one with any economic training believes that the proposal to diminish the extent to which donors can deduct charitable gifts will be good for charitable gifts. The relevant question is, "How much will charitable gifts decline?" We don't know the precise answer to this, but there will be a negative effect. If you doubt this, then why shouldn't we change the current 35% deductible clause not just to 28%, as President Obama has proposed, but to 20%, or even to zero? The answer is, we know such changes really do make a difference. Yes, we shouldn't panic, but yes, also, anyone who seeks to raise money should be concerned, particularly when marginal income tax rates, capital gain rates, and dividend taxation rates also would increase. This mixture of tax increases comes at a time when household wealth has declined steeply and, all things considered, certainly is not a recipe for excellent fund raising. Anyone who doesn't take this into account in their planning is not being realistic and probably should brush up on their Econ 101. Permit me to weigh in on the opposite side. No one with any economic training believes that the proposal to diminish the extent to which donors can deduct charitable gifts will be good for charitable gifts. The relevant question is, “How much will charitable gifts decline?” We don’t know the precise answer to this, but there will be a negative effect. If you doubt this, then why shouldn’t we change the current 35% deductible clause not just to 28%, as President Obama has proposed, but to 20%, or even to zero? The answer is, we know such changes really do make a difference. Yes, we shouldn’t panic, but yes, also, anyone who seeks to raise money should be concerned, particularly when marginal income tax rates, capital gain rates, and dividend taxation rates also would increase. This mixture of tax increases comes at a time when household wealth has declined steeply and, all things considered, certainly is not a recipe for excellent fund raising. Anyone who doesn’t take this into account in their planning is not being realistic and probably should brush up on their Econ 101.

]]> By: Pete Manzo http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/comment-page-1/#comment-13616 Pete Manzo Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:17:51 +0000 http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/#comment-13616 Hear, hear! Thanks for helping us keep things in perspective. Hear, hear! Thanks for helping us keep things in perspective.

]]> By: Nick Scheibel http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/comment-page-1/#comment-13437 Nick Scheibel Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:34:08 +0000 http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2009/03/02/seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/#comment-13437 Thanks so much for posting this. I also saw the Independent Sector post last week and was appalled at the knee jerk reaction. My first thought was "They're going to catch hell for this", and it seems like the backlash has already begun. Regardless of whether or not this proposal (if it even becomes law) reduces charitable giving, it seems that the non-profit community needs to applaud using tax revenues from wealthy individuals to reinforce the social safety net. This statement from IS seems to give the impression that non-profits exist for self-serving reasons, and not to provide basic services that the government has been unwilling to perform. That being said, it seems that there is a lot of research supporting the idea that the charitable tax deduction is not as big a factor in high net-worth individuals' philanthropy as we might assume. It is disappointing to see the Independent Sector resorting to special interest politics like so many for-profit agencies and organizations. Thanks so much for posting this. I also saw the Independent Sector post last week and was appalled at the knee jerk reaction. My first thought was “They’re going to catch hell for this”, and it seems like the backlash has already begun.

Regardless of whether or not this proposal (if it even becomes law) reduces charitable giving, it seems that the non-profit community needs to applaud using tax revenues from wealthy individuals to reinforce the social safety net. This statement from IS seems to give the impression that non-profits exist for self-serving reasons, and not to provide basic services that the government has been unwilling to perform.

That being said, it seems that there is a lot of research supporting the idea that the charitable tax deduction is not as big a factor in high net-worth individuals’ philanthropy as we might assume. It is disappointing to see the Independent Sector resorting to special interest politics like so many for-profit agencies and organizations.

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