While philanthropic powerbrokers battle Bush's tax cut proposal, small grassroots groups wonder where they will get their funds if the estate tax dries up. As City Council hopefuls begin to campaign and seek endorsements, one Queens legislator and labor leader finds himself caught between the two worlds he serves.
Philanthropic experts say it's hard to tell.
In general, though, the prognosis wouldn't look good. For another, family foundations, which are often launched as part of a bequest, have become extremely important funders for nonprofits. According to the Foundation Center, the number of private and community foundations has nearly doubled since 1984. Although a change to the tax rules would not affect the endowments that these funds already have, it would remove the most powerful incentive for rich people to start new funds. Because the economy has been so strong, people found themselves with substantially more money than they would have expected, and now they're getting old enough to worry about that sort of thing.