October 03, 2007
Is Giving to Universities and Arts Groups Under Attack?
An opinion article in the Los Angeles Times that questions certain types of charitable giving has come under fire from numerous writers.
The article, by Robert B. Reich, a former secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton, argues that donations to large arts organizations and universities should not receive the same tax benefit as gifts to assist poor people.
Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator, writes on his blog that Americans do give far too much “vanity philanthropy,” but that Mr. Reich’s suggestion on how to fix the problem is dead wrong.
Mr. Reich “wastes everyone’s time (most importantly — his own) by only providing a knee-jerk, simplistic, and half-baked solution to a very real problem in this country, which is that donors, especially the truly wealthy, have abandoned the poor,” writes Mr. Stamp.
The Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank in Washington, also takes umbrage with Mr. Reich on its blog, arguing his article is a veiled way to promote taxes and government spending.
“Reich’s piece is another journalistic attack on the charitable tax deduction, which he considers a subsidy for the rich that takes government revenue from the poor,” writes Robert Huberty, the center“s executive vice president.
The other so-called attacks are an opinion article published last month in The Washington Post by David Nasaw, the author of a recent biography of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, and a September story in The New York Times.
These articles have stirred up debate elsewhere in the nonprofit world.
Foundation leaders, philanthropy bloggers and arts supporters have already quarreled with them.
As for Mr. Reich’s ideas, not all bloggers are against it.
Ezra Klein, a writer at the American Prospect, a liberal magazine Mr. Reich co-founded, writes on his blog that he agrees with the former cabinet member. “The tax deductibility of charitable donations to private universities, the arts, and so forth are a bit of a scam,” Mr. Klein writes.
What do you think of Mr. Reich’s proposal? Do cultural and higher-education institutions do more to help the poor than perhaps Mr. Reich suggests? Should a donation to a charity with modest assets be given a more lucrative tax break than a gift to a wealthy organization? Share your thoughts by clicking on the comments link below.
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Fascinating idea. I’ve been in fundraising for almost 15 years now and agree that “vanity philanthropy” is rampant; does Harvard really need anyone’s money? I’d like to see U.S. charitable giving become more and creative, with a great percentage of gift dollars going to more interesting, experimental ideas instead of propping up the status quo.
— Flaneusein DC Oct 10, 08:33 AM #