February __, 2006

Dear ________,

The undersigned organizations are writing to express our support for the proposed new charitable giving incentive for nonitemizers contained in the recently passed Senate tax reconciliation legislation (S. 2020). We urge you to include this giving incentive in the Conference Report of the tax reconciliation legislation.

Part of an important package of charitable giving incentives in S. 2020, we believe that the proposed nonitemizer tax incentive will help spur increased charitable giving during a time of critical need for charities across the country and provide a fairer system of charitable tax incentives.

• By extending the charitable tax deduction to all taxpayers – including the over 86 million Americans who do not currently itemize - the nonitemizer proposal will help to increase both the number of donors and the total dollars contributed to charitable organizations.
• This proposal is essentially revenue neutral and will not impact other choices the conferees must make in assembling the final Conference Report.
• The proposed incentive is scheduled to expire after two years, providing charities with the opportunity to determine its impact on charitable donations and to provide knowledgeable guidance to Congress on whether it should be continued.
• Credible research and IRS data on charitable donations by itemizers supports our position that the proposed incentive, which creates a floor of $210 for single filers ($420 for joint) over which donations will be deductible, will be beneficial to the charitable sector.¹ In addition, a review of donations by United Way of America indicates that the proposal would increase giving to United Ways alone by $180 million per year, and to the charitable sector by well over $1 billion per year.

While permitting all Americans to deduct their full charitable contributions or further reducing the floor would have an even more positive impact on charitable giving, we believe this proposal will help generate much-needed resources for charities and offers the first chance in many years for Congress to extend a charitable tax deduction to all taxpayers.

For these reasons, we urge you to support the non-itemizer/itemizer tax incentive as included in S. 2020 in the Conference Report of the tax reconciliation legislation.

Sincerely,
American Cancer Society
American Heart Association
Independent Sector
March of Dimes
United Way of America
YMCA of the USA