Our friends at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) released a study in March called Remarkable Resilience, showing that U.S. charitable giving increased 10.6 percent in 2020 compared to 2019. The report also showed that rescue missions and similar organizations led all ministry types in this area. But now, citing the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP), ECFA is suggesting that one cause for the particularly strong year-end donations might be the Universal Charitable Deduction (UCD) that was temporarily instituted in last year’s pandemic relief law.
Regarding the correlation, FEP chair James Biedermann said, “It’s striking that on December 31, there was a 28 percent increase of $300 gifts, which is exactly the maximum amount a donor [could] take using the Universal Charitable Deduction.” All of this shows that efforts can’t be relaxed in trying to pass the Universal Giving Pandemic Response and Recovery Act (UGPRRA), sponsored by Citygate Network friend Senator James Lankford (R-OK), Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and others. The Faith & Giving Coalition, which Citygate Network was instrumental in starting and staffing, is championing and closely tracking this important bill. We’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime: