The impact of tax incentives on charitable giving

For some of the organizations that constitute this sector, it has been a period of optimism, celebration of newfound visibility, and anticipation of increased resources and influence. [...] Over the past decade, there have been recurring discussion, and rising expectations, regarding the opportunities and potential for nonprofit and voluntary organizations to occupy a larger place in the panoply of social institutions; there has been little, though, in the way of reality-checking — that is, broad- spectrum assessment of the sector’s environment, its strengths and weaknesses, forces i [...] This conference’s deliberations on ‘the new financial environment of nonprofit and voluntary organizations’ can certainly contribute to assessing the state of the sector, and my hope is that it will eventually be one in an ensemble of deliberations that together provide a full picture of what’s going on in the sector, what forces are affecting it, with what consequences, and how they are being dea [...] It was against this background that we undertook an analysis of how Canadians currently view and respond to the availability of tax credits for charitable donations, in order to assess the impact that an increase in tax credits might have on giving and thence on the nonprofit sector. [...] In fact, of the 13 percent who stated they donated because of the tax credit, four in ten would not be claiming a tax credit! I think the most telling number is this one: a mere 7.7 percent of all givers did so because of the tax credit and intended to claim that credit.