Right now, residents in virtually every state are suffering from a natural disaster, whether escaping wildfires, adapting to drought conditions in many places and coping with flooding in others, struggling to find clean drinking water, or rebuilding their lives after devastating events. And charitable nonprofits are right there with them providing relief, recovery, and support. Nonprofits need resources to keep these efforts going, and they need it now!
Why It Matters
As Americans suffering from natural disasters turn to charitable nonprofits, they are discovering that the nonprofits where they seek relief are themselves struggling to recover from the significantly added workloads they endured throughout the pandemic. Charitable nonprofits see the anguish of people displaced from their homes and businesses, but nonprofits already on the edge simply cannot take on the additional volume of work without more resources.
Where We Stand
With great urgency, we ask Congress to enable charitable nonprofits to provide the assistance sought by the millions of residents whose lives have been disrupted. Specifically, we call on Congress to restore and improve charitable giving incentives and reinstate and enhance the Employee Retention Tax Credit so charitable nonprofits have the resources and staff they need to provide relief and recovery to Americans now.
- Letter to President Biden and Congressional Leaders, Coalition of National Nonprofits, Updated Sept. 13, 2022
Status
Three charitable giving incentives ideally suited to help nonprofits serve through natural disasters were allowed to expire at the end of 2021. Greater incentives for charitable giving are needed more than ever during the current natural disasters as nonprofits play an essential role in immediate relief and continuing recovery efforts.
We urge Congress and the Administration to:
- Renew the universal charitable (non-itemizer) deduction at least through 2022 and significantly increase the cap on the deduction, as proposed in the bipartisan Universal Giving Pandemic Response and Recovery Act (S.618/H.R.1704).
- Extend two additional disaster-relief giving incentives that expired on December 31, 2021 –
- the provision permitting individuals who itemize to deduct charitable donations up to 100% of their adjusted gross income, and
- the measure allowing corporations to deduct charitable donations up to 25% of taxable income.
- Retroactively restore the Employee Retention Tax Credit, as proposed in the bipartisan ERTC Reinstatement Act (H.R. 6161/S. 3625), extend this refundable payroll tax credit through 2022, and modify nonprofit eligibility beyond the current “gross receipts” test and definition of eligible payroll expenses to include child care and education subsidies.
Take Action
A coalition of national nonprofits is calling on the President and congressional leaders to pass legislation restoring expired charitable giving incentives and the Employee Retention Tax Credit so nonprofits have much-needed resources to support relief and recovery efforts in their communities.
Tell your Senators and Representatives they must enact natural disaster tax relief legislation that restores and expands expired charitable giving and employment tax incentives before the next natural disaster hits. Not at the end of the year, but right now!
- Email (Representatives, Senators)
Senator/Representative ___________,
Charitable nonprofits are always there when crisis strikes and the many natural disasters our residents have endured this summer have proved this point over and over. Congress needs to enact natural disaster tax relief to help our residents and the nonprofit serving them recover. We call on you to enact natural disaster tax relief that restores three charitable giving incentives allowed to expire at the end of 2021 and bring back the employee retention tax credit improperly and retroactively repealed last year. Please see the nonprofit coalition letter, updated September 13, for more details on both the need for disaster relief legislation and the reasons these tax provisions are the very least Congress can do during this crisis.
- Tweet to your Representative and Senators the new nonprofit disaster-relief letter.
Sample Messages:
After every natural disaster, Congress provides needed tax relief in the form of charitable giving incentives and employee retention credits. Why not now? Restore the expired tax relief #Relief4Charities
Charitable nonprofits are there for our fellow residents – your constituents – when disaster strikes. But charities need help from Congress. Restore disaster tax relief now, when it’s needed most. #Relief4Charities
Natural disasters are ravaging our country and nonprofits don’t have the resources they need to help our fellow residents recover. Congress needs to restore charitable giving incentives and the ERTC. #Relief4Charities
Now is the time for Congress to support the nonprofits that build up and protect communities during the #flooding, #wildfires, and #drought happening across the States. #Relief4Charities
How many more Americans must suffer from natural disasters before Congress restores expired giving incentives and the employee retention credit? Congress needs to help nonprofits so they can help their constituents. #Relief4Charities
- Retweet messages from @NatlCouncilNPs and #Relief4Charities to your Representative and Senators.
- Share: Share with us and Congress news accounts about the impact of natural disasters on nonprofits, whether as victims of disasters or as providers of relief and recovery services.
Related Insights & Analysis
- Letter to President Biden and Congressional Leaders, Coalition of National Nonprofits, Updated Sept. 13, 2022.
Additional Resources
- Nonprofit Recommendations for Disaster Relief and Recovery, State Association Network of the National Council of Nonprofits, June 13, 2019.
- Suggestions for Tax Provisions to Help Nonprofits Respond to National Disasters, North Carolina Center for Nonprofits, June 2019.