Why We Must Educate About The Charitable Tax Deduction

With articles like the ones recently posted in The New York Times, we have to be ever more diligent to make sure the role nonprofits serve in our society does not get whittled down to misinformed sound bites that characterize the sector as somehow not deserving of support or at the very least, not deserving of the charitable tax deduction. 

Discussion and debate about the value and impact of the charitable tax deduction is welcomed and should be debated. Too often however, the argument does not move out of tax policy, which only factors where the money will move within the tax structure. What is missing is how contributed money is spent and the impact those contributions make. Not only on the individual recipients, but the economic activity that is generated in communities as well. As the debate continues, we need to make sure our legislators are educated about all aspects of charitable contributions and how the nonprofit sector has a role in doing best what government and business does not. For all our discussions about the charitable tax deduction and whether it stays in the tax code, is altered or removed entirely, the one aspect we all know is that the needs will not be affected. See what PPP is doing in our summer advocacy campaign and access resources that you can use with your local legislators to ensure the charitable deduction is fairly represented in this current climate of tax reform debate.

About Michael Kenyon

Michael Kenyon is president and CEO of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning. For the past 11 years, Kenyon has served as executive director of the Percussive Arts Society. While at PAS, he led the organization through a relocation and development of Rhythm! Discovery Center, a new museum and educational facility that USA Today recently named one of the top places in the United States for hands-on music making. He has worked with St. Martin’s Hospitality Center for the homeless, Celebrate Youth, which was recognized by the Kellogg Foundation as an exemplary program in the development of young adults and as executive director of the New Mexico Jazz Workshop.

Kenyon holds a Master of Music in Performance Pedagogy from Arizona State University and began his professional life as a musician before transitioning into nonprofit administration. He has taught percussion at Arizona State University and as a percussionist and jazz drummer, has extensive professional performance experience including the, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Broadway Touring Shows and jazz artists that include Harry “Sweets” Edison, Paquito D’Rivera, and Rosemary Clooney.