Charities’ Fear Under Tax Bill: Less Money to Help the Needy<br />(“My donors,” said Mr. Kimbrough of the United Way of Greater St. Louis, “have my cellphone.”)<br />Some 26,000 to 28,000 major donors nationally give a total of about $500 million a year to United Way, in gifts of $10,000 or more, Mr. Taylor said.<br />“If you are a taxpayer who itemizes,” the email said in part, “it probably makes sense to accelerate<br />some charitable contributions into 2017 to get a larger income tax deduction this year.”<br />Ellen Gilligan, the foundation’s chief executive, said the federal tax legislation moved so quickly<br />that many donors were unaware of its provisions and how it might affect their taxes.<br />Donors give for altruistic reasons as well as tax breaks, Mr. Taylor said, but the increase in the standard deduction is expected to have an impact.<br />“Eliminating the tax incentive,” she said, “has the potential to have a very negative impact on charitable giving.”<br />United Way Worldwide, ranked the largest charity in 2017 by donations by Forbes, is recommending<br />that its community-based affiliates contact important contributors to highlight the changes that are coming, said Steve Taylor, the charity’s vice president of public policy.<br />The United Way of Greater St. Louis, for instance, which serves Missouri<br />and Illinois, expects top donors to contribute 6 percent more than what they gave in 2016, said Orvin Kimbrough, the group’s president and chief executive.
