Charities Fear New Pay Limits Will Hurt Executive Donations

"As long as there is uncertainty about what's going to happen with executive compensation, that could really hold a lot of people back from giving, and not just on Wall Street," says Melissa Berman, president and chief executive of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Of course, Wall Street executives, and employees lower on the ladder, still have more resources to give than many Americans. But they, like everyone else, are feeling less wealthy these days amid the financial crisis. In some cases, they're telling charities they can't be as generous as they've been in the past. The new compensation regulations could give them another justification for scaling back giving.