Opinion: Government Falling Behind Donors in Solving Social Problems

The $7.3-billion given last year by America’s 50 most-generous donors, as reported in The Chronicle’s new survey, shed light on how little the American government gives to charities that care for the country’s neediest citizens, according to an editorial in The New York Times.

The Chronicle’s account of individual giving by billionaires and moguls is “great news for many worthy causes,” asserts The Times, which adds, “We’d be so much happier about all the good things America’s moneyed elite pay for if the government made needed public investments.”

Because private donations, which are tax deductible, reduce the revenue the government can collect, The Times editorial suggests that perhaps government should be allowed to take a bigger role in guiding where charitable donations are allocated so that they solve society’s most-pressing needs.

(Free registration is required to view the New York Times article.)