Tax Reform & Charitable Giving in VT Update

There is still much to be learned about the impact of recent national and state tax reform. 

As Rick Cohen of the National Council of Nonprofits explains, “Depending on what you read, overall giving statistics show either new record highs or portend disaster. And, whether those indicators are positive or negative, it’s all because of the changes to the tax law – unless it isn’t.” (Read: 2018 Individual Giving Data: What’s the Bottom Line?)

Understanding the impact of the new federal law is further complicated by Vermont’s new tax law that provides a charitable contribution tax credit of 5 percent on the first $20,000 in eligible charitable contributions. In an effort to better understand the impact of these tax reforms on Vermont donors we partnered with the UVM Center for Rural Studies to ask Vermonters if the amount of their charitable giving to nonprofits increased, decreased, or stayed the same in 2018:

Question:
“And now a quick question about charitable donations. In response to 2018 federal tax reform changes, Vermont passed a new tax law to provide a charitable contribution tax credit of 5 percent on the first $20,000 in eligible charitable contributions. In light of these changes, did the amount of your charitable giving to nonprofits increase, decrease, or stay the same in 2018? ”

  • About 82% of respondents said their giving stayed the same in 2018
  • 6% of respondents said their giving increased and 6% said their giving decreased

2019 Vermonter Poll Methodology

Data were collected by the Center for Rural Studies at the University of Vermont as part of the
2019 Vermonter Poll. The survey was conducted between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
beginning on February 19, 2019 and ending February 28, 2019. Telephone polling was
conducted from the University of Vermont using computer-aided telephone interviewing
(CATI). A random sample for the poll was drawn from a list of Vermont landline and cellular
telephone numbers. Only Vermont residents over the age of eighteen were interviewed. The poll
included questions on a variety of subject areas relevant to Vermonters.

A total of 680 Vermont residents over the age of 18 agreed to participate and completed the
survey. Based upon 680 valid responses, the overall study results have a margin of error of plus
or minus 3.8 percent with a confidence level of 95 percent. This means that if this study were
replicated 100 times, 95 of those times, the results would fall within +/-3.8% of the results found
in this effort.

Learn more about the Vermonter Poll.

Read: 2018 Individual Giving Data: What’s the Bottom Line