Charities Are Silent on Loss of Estate Tax

[Rose Siding]

Charities stand to lose roughly $10 billion a year if the federal estate tax is repealed permanently, according to a study conducted by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute. That is roughly the equivalent of all the grants made by the country's 82 largest foundations in 2003.

But while nonprofit groups have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last year lobbying Congress against imposing tougher regulations on them, on this issue they have been silent.

"I'm thinking to myself, here I am running around wrangling over boards and travel policies and whether organizations should be required to do audits and the sector is on the verge of losing something like $10 billion or $15 billion," said Diana Aviv, president of the Independent Sector, a large trade association representing charities and foundations. "Talk about misplaced priorities."

But every time Ms. Aviv opens her mouth about the matter, many of the charities she represents tell her to shut it.

............MORE.........

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/national/24silence.html?ex=1271995200&en=1818e4c77787f202&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

[UpInArms]

1. they just don't get it, do they?

The reason? No one wants to alienate the wealthy donors and board members who would benefit from a repeal.

"It's not difficult to see why organizations are keeping quiet about this potential estate tax cut," said James S. Tisch, president and chief executive of the Loews Corporation and a major donor to Jewish and other causes. "It's because they don't want to make their donors irate. You only have to make one or two irate to have a real problem."

it really won't matter if they "alienate" the "wealthy donors" 'cause once those folks realize that there's nothing in it for them, those donations are going to just dry up and blow away.

[aquart]

2. Yeah, the rich are so giving and generous. We can trust them.

We can totally trust their charitable impulses.

Trump has TWENTY chandeliers which cost $250,000 apiece.