Charitable-Giving Plan Divides Nonprofit Groups and Worries Donors

“My best guess is that this wouldn’t have a huge effect, but because of the economy it is going to have a worse effect,” said Eileen R. Heisman, president of the National Philanthropic Trust, in Philadelphia.

“It certainly is not going to make things better,” she said. “The question is how much worse it will be on top of worse. With the economy this bad, it does worry me that a new policy would be in place, giving wealthy people a disincentive to give.”