Estate Tax’s Effect on Giving May Not Matter So Much, New Analysis Finds
Even though estate taxes have been gradually reduced each year since 2001, the changes do not seem to have caused a drop in charitable bequests. Instead, the percentage of large estates containing such bequests has remained constant or increased.
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Unusual Alliance: Land Trusts Forge Ties to Housing Groups
Supporters of land conservation and proponents of low-cost housing are usually at odds over land use, but now they are increasingly looking for common ground. Literally. Especially in fast-growing cities and towns, where natural areas are threatened and the ability of low-income residents to pay…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Conservation Groups Growing Fast, Study Finds
Each year, two million acres of forests, farms, wetlands, and other of America’s open spaces are taken over ALSO SEE: Graphs: The Growth of Land-Conservation Efforts by new homes, shopping malls, highways, and other development. But, according to a new report, hundreds of local charities dedicated…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Older Americans Flock to Give in Response to Tax Incentives
Federal law poses as many challenges as benefits, fund raisers say; museums especially worried by a rule that restricts art donations Days after mailing a bright-orange, one-page information sheet about new federal tax incentives for older Americans who contribute to charity directly from their…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
New tax breaks are creating a boom in conservation effortsAbout a decade ago, an East Coast investment banker offered Rick Berg millions of dollars to buy his scenic cattle ranch — thousands of acres of prairie, timbered hills, big-game habitat, and a river bottom set between two mountain ranges in…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Indiana U. Receives $50-Million for Its Cancer Center; Other Recent Gifts
Six institutions have received big gifts: The Indiana University Cancer Center, in Indianapolis, has received $50-million from Melvin Simon, a co-founder and co-chairman of Simon Property Group, a real-estate investment company in Indianapolis, and his wife, Bren, to support cancer research and…
Americans donate a greater share of the country’s economic output to charity than do the residents of 11 other countries, according to a new study. The report, by the Charities Aid Foundation, in Britain, found that giving in the United States equals 1.67 percent of ALSO SEE: Table: How Much…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
American Donors Urged to Learn Lessons From Overseas Charities
While modern philanthropy originated in the United States, other parts of the world have developed their own innovative style of giving and commitment to social causes that rivals America’s, a Ford Foundation official told participants at a conference here last month on international grant making.…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
New York Tops List of Most-Generous States, Report Finds
New Yorkers give a larger share of their income to charity than residents of any other state, according to a new study. The report, which takes into account the fact that people living in states with higher costs of living have ALSO SEE: Table: Generosity in the States: Who Gives the Most less…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Gates Foundation Announces That It Doesn’t Plan to Operate Forever
All good things must come to an end, as the saying goes, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is no exception. The foundation, in Seattle, announced last week it had set up a timeline for its eventual closure, as part of changes the fund is making to facilitate the $31-billion pledge the…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor