The headline: Trump Tax Plan Leads to $54 Billion Decline in Charitable Giving
The article goes on to quote Giving USA, saying that there was “a 1.7 percent decline in overall giving to charity organizations last year and a 1.1 percent decline in dollars from individual Americans given, or a 3.4 percent decline when adjusted for inflation. This represents the first drop in individual giving since 2013. In 2017, giving increased by 5.7 percent.”
Ok – here is what Giving USA actually reported:
Total fundraising from all sources – 2017 was $435.11 billion, 2018 was $427.71 billion. Do the math – Giving USA is saying the drop was $7.4 billion. The article never explains where it gets its insane headline that the drop was $54 billion. THESE HAPPEN TO BE INFLATION ADJUSTED #s BY THE WAY.
So, if you look at the giving in NON-INFLATION ADJUSTED terms (i.e. regular dollars), you will find in Giving USA that 2018 had the highest giving total ever! 2017 came in at $424.74 billion and 2018 came in at $427.71 billion. That is an increase of $2.97 billion in total giving from 2017 to 2018! Not a decrease of $54 billion!
Anyway, I am close to finishing a new presentation looking at all of the fundraising numbers, and focusing on the impact of the increase in non-itemizers due to the 2018 tax plan. So far, it certainly doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact if actual fundraising numbers increased in 2018!