The Surprising Relationship Between Taxes and Charitable Giving

Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2015

When it comes to charitable giving, it’s well known that taxes matter. The promise of a big deduction is a great way to get people to open their checkbooks.

Yet the relationship between taxes and giving isn’t as simple as it looks.

Researchers have been studying the issue for years, some by sifting through masses of tax-return data, others by handing people money and seeing how their donation decisions change when they are “taxed” in various ways. The results show that the money and taxes relationship is a lot more nuanced than the idea that a bigger deduction means a bigger donation—with significant implications for both charities and policy makers.