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| Philanthropy |
Taxing Dilemma
Michael Seltzer
07/01/2004
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Pure Altruists
For many of us, potential tax savings do influence whether
and how much we give both in life and upon death and, in growing numbers,
whether we will create grant-making foundations. Yet there are countless among
us who give without apparent concern for the consequences of taxation. These are
pure altruists in the nomenclature of philanthropic scholars.
For example,
using the royalties from their best-selling books Having Our Say: The Delany
Sisters’ First 100 Years and The Delany Sisters’ Book of Everyday Wisdom,
centenarians Bessie Delany and her sister, Sadie, created the Delany Sisters
Fund at the New York Community Trust. Grants from this fund help individuals,
families and communities striving to improve their lives. Another example is
Aaron Gural, founder of the prominent New York City realty firm, Newmark, who
based his decision to create a family foundation on a simple desire to make the
“world a better place,” a translation of the Hebrew precept, tikun
olam.
Since my first foundation posting in 1969, I have met many women and
men around the country and the globe like Bessie, Sadie and Aaron, who seek to
give back to society, and have created or contributed to existing foundations.
Most economists and other experts in philanthropy feel that, for most people, a
variety of factors—including both altruism and tax considerations—influence
charitable decision making. John Edie, a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and
former general counsel for the Council on Foundations, argues that the
statistical effects of the repeal of the estate tax on charitable giving are
actually mixed.
One thing is quite clear, however. We can neither afford any
diminution in our nation’s philanthropic traditions nor any slackening in our
resolve to address the issues of our time. The World Bank’s annual statistical
analysis, World Development Indicators 2004, reports that 21 percent of the
world’s people live on less than $1 a day. For the sake of common good, new
ranks of philanthropists need to discover the joy and satisfaction of giving to
ensure a better world and a healthy planet for today and tomorrow. Michael Seltzer is the president of the New York Regional Association of
Grantmakers. Its mission is to promote and support the practice of effective
philanthropy for the public good.
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