Report Urges Donors to Give Billions More

Americans could “comfortably” give $240-billion more to charity in 1999 than they probably will, according to estimates released by a San Francisco group that is trying to encourage wealthy people to give more.

The financial calculations were released by the Newtithing Group, an organization formed by Claude Rosenberg, a philanthropist and retired investment manager.

For the past five years, Mr. Rosenberg has been touring the country to promote the idea that people could easily double their charitable contributions without affecting their standard of living. His premise is that Americans should count all their assets, instead of just their income, when deciding how much to donate.

Based on 1996 Internal Revenue Service statistics, the Newtithing Group said that Americans could afford to donate about $350-billion in 1999, almost triple the amount estimated to have been given in 1997 (the latest year for which data are available).

The group estimated that nearly 80 per cent of the increase would come from people with adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 annually or more. By contrast, the group found that those earning less than $50,000 were already giving about what they can afford.

For more information about the report, contact Tim Stone, Executive Vice-President, Newtithing Group, Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 3700, San Francisco 94111-4107; (415) 274-2754; fax (415) 274-2756; World-Wide Web http://www.newtithing.org.