Charitable-Giving Plan Divides Nonprofit Groups and Worries Donors

The budget proposal, if passed, would essentially be a tariff on giving by the most-generous donors, Mr. Sharpe said. “If we need this money for social purposes,” he said, “why not tax wealthy people who do not give to charity?”

Short-Term Surge in Giving
By reducing the charitable deduction, Mr. Obama’s plan could create a short-term surge in giving, as wealthy donors rush to make gifts and take advantage of the higher current deduction levels, said Richard Steinberg, an economist at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy who has studied elevated giving levels in 1986, the year before the tax code was changed to reduce the value of the charitable deduction.