Increase Urged in Aid to Charities

A new report urges individuals, politicians, and companies to strengthen their support of churches and other charities as a key way to turn around an “increasingly uncivil” American society.

The report, published by the Institute for American Values, was compiled by a group of activists, charity leaders, politicians, and scholars, known collectively as the Council on Civil Society.

Among the report’s 41 recommendations:

* Congress should encourage people to increase their donations by creating a new federal tax credit of up to $500 for individuals who give to antipoverty groups. The report also recommends that states pass similar measures.

* The federal government should continue to support non-profit community-development corporations.

* Companies should overcome their reluctance to donate to “faith-based organizations whose mission is to serve the poor and renew civil society.”

Grants from the Nathan Cummings Foundation and JM Foundation helped pay for the council’s report.

To receive a copy of “A Call to Civil Society: Why Democracy Needs Moral Truths,” send $7 to the Council on Civil Society, 1841 Broadway, Suite 211, New York 10023.