On the heels of Giving Tuesday, Goodwill Industries International joins our partners in the Charitable Giving Coalition in calling on Congress to expand charitable giving incentives to all taxpayers. Since 2012, Giving Tuesday has marked the beginning of the year-end season of giving, during which Americans display unmatched generosity through charitable donations.
More than 1,000 nonprofit organizations representing all 50 states, sent a letter to leadership of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee which has jurisdiction over tax policy, calling for passage of the bipartisan Charitable Act. The bill would restore and expand the charitable deduction for non-itemizing taxpayers, also known as the universal charitable deduction.
Currently, 88 percent of charitable giving is provided by 13 percent of donors. The bipartisan Charitable Act would encourage more giving from middle-income and lower-income families that are not incentivized to give through the charitable deduction since they do not itemize.
Giving trends from 2020 and 2021, when the temporary non-itemizer charitable deduction was in place, indicate the deduction works. According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, charitable gifts of $300—the cap of the temporary deduction in 2020—increased by 28 percent on the last day of the year. Furthermore, interim Internal Revenue Service data for tax year 2021 shows 47 million households used the non-itemizer charitable deduction for donations totaling around $18 billion. A higher deduction cap, as included in the Charitable Act, would encourage even more charitable giving in communities across the country.
Despite declining donations, the sector continues to be called upon to do more. At Goodwill, we focus on tapping into every individual’s potential and empowering people to live the lives they want. That could mean training someone to enter a new clean tech field or providing free transportation to a job interview. The benefit of having such a vast network of locations is that each local Goodwill organization can respond to the realities of its community’s needs. Goodwill Industries International’s reach means your financial donation will be able to develop resources for partnerships and best practices.
All of this adds up to an effect you can feel. Donations make a huge difference in our mission. Whether you’re dropping off your used goods, shopping in our stores, giving to us in honor of Giving Tuesday, or advocating on behalf of the people we serve – it makes an impact.
As we enter this season of giving, we encourage lawmakers to keep in mind the great work charitable organizations are doing to support their communities and we urge them to extend and expand the universal charitable deduction in year-end legislation. Contact Congress via our Legislative Action Center and ask lawmakers to pass the Charitable Act.
