As a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) with 25,000+ members that raise more than $115 billion each year for charities, I urge you to join a bipartisan group of your colleagues cosponsoring the Charitable Act (S.566/H.R. 3435). The Charitable Act would restore and expand the universal charitable deduction through this year. The Charitable Act will incentivize millions of more Americans to give and support their communities. I urge you to support the Charitable Act by signing on as a cosponsor. Thank you in advance for your support of charities in your community.

As a strong supporter of charitable giving, I write to ask you to join a bipartisan group of your colleagues cosponsoring the Charitable Act (S.566/H.R. 3435). This bill would create a temporary charitable deduction for non-itemizing taxpayers, up to one-third the standard deduction for taxpayers who do not itemize for the 2023 and 2024 tax years. Tax policy impacts charitable giving. According to data compiled by AFP’s Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP), the number of small donations in the $300-$600 range went up by nearly 11% over the course of 2020 and 2021, while the deduction was in effect. In 2020, taxpayers used the temporary universal charitable deduction to give $10.9 billion to charities; a quarter of Americans taking that $300 deduction made less than $30,000. However, in 2022, there was a 5% decline in the number of small donations as the deduction was allowed to expire. FEP data found that total dollars given to charities declined, while the overall number of donors sharply declined by ten percent. Many local governments rely on charities to provide community services, which depend on charitable giving to run these programs. Please cosponsor the Charitable Act. Thank you in advance for your support of charities in your community.