Will the new tax law doom your nonprofit? Or will it stimulate the economy and be a fundraising boon?
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act was signed into law by President Trump just before the holidays. Many called it “the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax system in more than 30 years.”
Yet after the New Year’s Eve revelry died down, the champagne dried up and the hangovers ran their course, a suddenly sober nation got to thinking, “What did we just do?” In fact, a poll showed 55% of Americans oppose the new tax law.
Some experts predict charitable donations — including planned giving — will take a huge hit.
Why? Because many people who traditionally itemized will find they’ll get more back by taking a standard deduction instead, which the new law almost doubles. With the incentive to itemize gone, there’s a fear the majority of moderate-income donors who make (relatively) small charitable gifts will stop donating.
In particular, some are concerned about the impact this may have for smaller gift annuities, the bread and butter of many planned giving programs.
And what about the doubling of the exemption for the gift and estate tax? Nationally, 80% or more planned giving revenue comes from simple bequests. And a big part of that comes from 7 figure bequests from wealthy donors. Should we expect a big drop in bequest revenue?
So, now what? Is your nonprofit doomed? Are you going to see major funding sources drop faster than a politician’s approval rating?
Or will this stimulate the economy and be a boon for fundraisers?
Find out in this webinar to get the pros and cons.
We’ll tackle questions like:
- “Will only the very wealthy make donations now?”
- “Does the elimination of donation deductions tied to college game seating rights spell the end of football?” (We are half-serious!)
- “Will those who traditionally make smaller, more frequent donations wait longer and give larger, lump-sum donations instead?”
- “How can I persuade donors to give if they’ve lost a financial incentive?”
Quit being a worrywart, stop getting misinformation from online forums, and register today — space is limited, and you don’t want to miss what the professionals have to say.
Date
January 30th, 2p.m. EST
Cost
Free
Presenters
Jeff Comfort
Vice President, Principal Gifts and Gift Planning
Oregon State University Foundation
Andrew J. Gray
CPA, Crowe Horwath LLP
