Americans are generous people who want to help people in need, and the charitable tax deduction helps to incentivize and recognize charitable giving. As part of tax reform, Congress should ensure that the value and scope of charitable contributions is enhanced— not diminished.

Disregarding the issue of itemization, the number of individuals contributing to charities has steadily decreased over the past 35 years, dropping from 84% of the adult population in 1980 to 72% of adults in 2015. Have Americans become less generous during the past half-century? Or have we made it more difficult for Americans to support charities? If it’s the latter, how have those impediments affected individual giving patterns?

While corporate philanthropy and citizenship are often perceived to be solely the work of large multinational corporations, small and mid-sized companies actually play a crucial role in community-oriented giving. In terms of percentage of profits donated, small businesses are far ahead of their larger counterparts and often look to make a tangible social impact in the community. Similarly, most mid-sized companies engage in corporate citizenship for the purpose of impacting their communities, not their bottom lines. Regardless of size, both corporate mega-donors and “everyday philanthropists” can use corporate citizenship to make a meaningful community-scale impact.

Read the full article by Daniel Rashke about charitable giving on Alliance For Charitable Reform