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Cedar Community: Life the way it should be. The way you want it.

There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the Obama administration proposal to reduce the income tax deduction for charitable donations for individuals with annual incomes of more than $200,000 and couples with more than $250,000.
The value of the deduction would be capped to the max deduction allowed for the 28 percent income tax rate. That is a reduced value of about 20 percent from the current top income tax rate of 35 percent. If the highest income tax rate rises to 39.6 percent, as proposed by the Obama administration, nearly 40 percent of the income-tax deduction for charitable giving disappears.
Will the wealthy, the ones in the best position to donate, give less if the value of the tax deduction falls? Yes, according to an October study by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. No, according to the Grassroots Fundraising Journal.
So why do people give to charity? What are their intrinsic motivations for giving to any charitable cause? Economic benefits such as tax savings are much less a reason than most people realize. Most money given away in the private sector comes from individuals, and most of the gifts are from middle class, working class and poor people. That’s most people: 91 percent of Americans earn less than $100,000 per year, and 70 percent of adults give away money. More than half receive no tax benefit for their giving because they file a short tax form.
So while your organization must be clear about the tax deductible status of your organization, this is clearly not a motivation for most people. More than anything, donors are motivated by their own experiences and values. A review of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs reveals many of the reasons that people donate fall into the higher categories of love/belonging/social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the top 5 reasons that people generally donate to charitable causes:
1. Personal Experience
Donors will often feel an affinity for a cause for a variety reasons related to their life experiences such as health issues, education or personal interests and talents.
2. They want to make a difference.
People often say they donate or volunteer in order to “make a difference.” This phrase means many different things to many different people.
Some people want to make an impact in the lives of an individual person. They would like to see a lasting and tangible change as the result of their contribution. They may not even be concerned with how long this change takes, just so long as it does take place. Other people want to see an immediate impact, for example food distributed to those who are hungry and other types of emergency aid. Still others have a long term vision for a societal change they want to see take place.
Another element of “making a difference” is simply a grateful spirit that wishes to give back to society.
3. They want to do something active about a problem or take a stand on a particular issue.
Today we are literally bombarded by information about the world’s problems through a wide variety of channels. We can’t escape from knowing about misery, injustice, and wasted human potential. Most feel powerless in the face of this grim reality but charity offers us a way to respond.
Many social problems seem too large for any one person to make a difference. Making a donation gives the donor personal power over a complex issue that is much larger in scope for one person to deal with. It’s one way that we can feel more in control of our world. Making financial donations is also a way to take a stand on an issue.
4. Many people like to be publicly acknowledged for their gifts to charity. On the high end of this scale is a building naming rights program. Donor recognition plaques large and small serve to acknowledge gifts. Sometimes just a simple “thank you” is all a person needs. All of these fulfill a psychological and emotional need to be recognized.
5. Giving is a good thing to do.
While all of the above reasons and many others may be true, there is no doubt that the majority of people simply believe in the value of giving itself. Some give out of an accepted moral or spiritual obligation. Others subconsciously know that it just feels good to give.
Jeff Brooks in his blog post Yet again: scientists show that giving is good says:
“Giving is good. It just feels good. Scientists will back me up on that. A recent NIH study looked into people’s brains with MRIs while they made decisions to give….Dr. Jorge Moll, the lead researcher on the study, said what they saw “strongly supports the existence of ‘warm glow’ at a biological level. It helps convince people that doing good can make them feel good; altruism therefore doesn’t need to be ONLY sacrifice.”