Ep. 98 Navigating New Tax Laws Without Losing Sight of Generosity with Bill Shiell

All right.

Well, let's talk about-

about-How these new regulations risk changing donor behavior, 'cause we were just talking about misconceptions and fears.

Are you seeing signs that people might give less, give differently, or even delay giving because of uncertainty?

Um, I'm not seeing signs at all like that on the donor side.

Okay.

Okay? And then obviously, um, it, it, it will vary depending on your cause and your nonprofit.

Um, it, it takes usually a 12-month cycle for the, any changes in a tax law to actually affect donor beha- donor behavior because, you know, right, you know, we are ...

When you file your taxes, you're filing in arrears based on last year's.

And, and most donors aren't really thinking that far ahead until they're probably getting into around the fourth quarter.

But we have to remember, donors' primary motivation when they're giving to a nonprofit they deeply care about is not the tax deduction.

It's one of the motivations, but their primary motivation is because they care deeply about this cause or this nonprofit, or it's aligned with their values.

So what they're probably doing, if anything, is saying, "All right.

I really care deeply about this particular group.

I wanna make sure that they can receive the money that I wanna give, and I wanna be able to maximize my deduction." So what they're doing, if anything, is just making sure that if this is an important cause to them, where, what is the best way to give that? And so from the donor's mind, a- and this is my working with both nonprofits, with schools, with everyone, the donors who are actively engaged in giving are still going to give.

They just might give at a different cycle.

They may give at a different time.

Um, or they might narrow their focus to causes that, um, uh, that are even more closely aligned.

One of the things we have seen that as donors get older, above the age of 70, above the age of 75, they tend to give to fewer and fewer causes, not because they aren't important, but just because they're more focused.

And they kind of figure out, you know, "This is really what I wanna spend, uh, my, the, the, my last remaining years.

I wanna make a difference in these key critical areas, in these 10 areas or five areas." And so they ...

But, but that doesn't have anything to do with the amount of money they have.

It's really just about focus.

Right.

It's about, it's about saying that if I, if I lean into these causes or these nonprofits, I'm gonna do something that's more impactful than if I do a spray and pray approach and just go and, and give to 27 different organizations.

All right.

Well, let's talk about-

about-How these new regulations risk changing donor behavior, 'cause we were just talking about misconceptions and fears.

Are you seeing signs that people might give less, give differently, or even delay giving because of uncertainty?

Um, I'm not seeing signs at all like that on the donor side.

Okay.

Okay? And then obviously, um, it, it, it will vary depending on your cause and your nonprofit.

Um, it, it takes usually a 12-month cycle for the, any changes in a tax law to actually affect donor beha- donor behavior because, you know, right, you know, we are ...

When you file your taxes, you're filing in arrears based on last year's.

And, and most donors aren't really thinking that far ahead until they're probably getting into around the fourth quarter.

But we have to remember, donors' primary motivation when they're giving to a nonprofit they deeply care about is not the tax deduction.

It's one of the motivations, but their primary motivation is because they care deeply about this cause or this nonprofit, or it's aligned with their values.

So what they're probably doing, if anything, is saying, "All right.

I really care deeply about this particular group.

I wanna make sure that they can receive the money that I wanna give, and I wanna be able to maximize my deduction." So what they're doing, if anything, is just making sure that if this is an important cause to them, where, what is the best way to give that? And so from the donor's mind, a- and this is my working with both nonprofits, with schools, with everyone, the donors who are actively engaged in giving are still going to give.

They just might give at a different cycle.

They may give at a different time.

Um, or they might narrow their focus to causes that, um, uh, that are even more closely aligned.

One of the things we have seen that as donors get older, above the age of 70, above the age of 75, they tend to give to fewer and fewer causes, not because they aren't important, but just because they're more focused.

And they kind of figure out, you know, "This is really what I wanna spend, uh, my, the, the, my last remaining years.

I wanna make a difference in these key critical areas, in these 10 areas or five areas." And so they ...

But, but that doesn't have anything to do with the amount of money they have.

It's really just about focus.

Right.

It's about, it's about saying that if I, if I lean into these causes or these nonprofits, I'm gonna do something that's more impactful than if I do a spray and pray approach and just go and, and give to 27 different organizations.