Philanthropy and Raising a Different Curve in the Time of COVID
By: Karim Merchant
Tags: Social Justice, Make A Difference, Philanthropy, Fundraising, Helping Others

1–2% Can Make a Big Difference

By: Karim Merchant, Vice President Strategic and Major Giving, Cancer Support Community, and Lela Diaz, Director of Development, Mayfield Senior School

While in even the best of times, there are people and places in our society that are more vulnerable than others, the pandemic has magnified those disparities across the world like never before. Among them, we have witnessed the plight of the elderly[1], those with life-threatening illnesses, people facing hunger, members of racial and ethnic minority communities[2], children impacted by educational disparities, and those working in lower income jobs who have little in savings[3]. It has also made clear that the only way we can hope to successfully navigate through large-scale calamities is if we come together as a society and act in ways that not only serve ourselves, but also each other.

We didn’t need a pandemic to arrive at that revelation. Various philosophers, major religions and philanthropists have noted the significance of the value of caring for one another. This is not surprising given that income inequality has been endemic in human civilization. Religions have enshrined the value of caring for others as a moral imperative. More utilitarian views on how societies should be organized acknowledge, among other things, that helping others can allow people to further their own aims including their own economic upliftment. There are also those who are philosophically motivated to help others and improve the world around them. Regardless of which philosophy or religion anchors our moral compass, it is hard to witness the inequity and injustice in society today. It is almost impossible to see the disproportionate burden of suffering being borne by some and not ask ourselves, “How can I help?”

While we have been sheltering at home, some of us have been surprised to see our savings accounts get a boost. We’ve had to forego the daily coffee runs, lunches and dinners out, movie nights, vacations, and entertainment that used to be a significant part of our budgets, resulting in money saved. Hopefully, all those things will return in due course so that we can patronize the businesses we love. But in the meantime, for those with the means to give, the answer to the question posed above is glaring at us. What if we could extend our helping hands (and wallets) today to those causes that matter most to us and show that we care? What if we could plan to give 1–2% more of our income this year and in the next three years?

The IRS’s Statistics of Income have shown for years that the charitable deduction claimed by households as a percentage of their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) forms a U-shaped curve[4] with households at the bottom and top of the income spectrum giving the most (8–10%) and households in the middle giving the least (2–3%) as a percent of income. Households earning $100,000 to $10,000,000 give proportionately less of their AGI than others on either end of the spectrum. If people in these income brackets gave 1–2% more of their income, imagine the incredible impact we could achieve by helping all of the segments of society that we mentioned at the start. In a world where we hear daily about flattening the COVID-19 curve, how amazing would it be if each of us with the ability decided to do our part to help raise the giving curve? In addition to flattening the COVID curve associated with sickness, economic ruin, and death, we could take action to raise the giving curve that leads to improved lives, recovery, and wellness.

If the pandemic has given us anything, it is a reminder of our shared humanity. We are interconnected in countless ways. When one segment of society is hurting, eventually we all feel the pain. But that same interconnectedness also gives us the power to help each other ease the pain. In the years to come, we will look back at 2020 and reflect on how COVID-19 changed our lives. Instead of remembering this year as one full of only negatives, we could look back and see 2020 as the year we leaned in and made it a priority to help the community and world around us. This year has taken — and continues to take — so much from all of us, especially those that were already vulnerable. The time is now to make an impact. With the calendar year end quickly approaching, we all have opportunities to support the causes that matter to us. Can you step up by giving 1–2% more of your income to help raise the giving curve? Join us, as we both have decided to make 2020 the year we give more than ever before.