Statement of Marina L. Weiss, Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Government Affairs, March of Dimes

Incentives for Charitable Giving Will Spur Research and Community-Based Activities to Improve Birth Outcomes

The 3 million volunteers and 1600 staff members of the March of Dimes strongly support providing tax incentives to promote charitable giving. The proposals to allow non-itemizers to deduct charitable contributions and to permit tax-free withdrawals from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for charitable contributions will encourage new contributors to support worthwhile programs and also reward those who already give.

Of particular interest to the March of Dimes is the non-itemizer deduction. According to a January 2001 PricewaterhouseCoopers report, extending the charitable deduction to the nearly 85 million individuals who do not currently itemize their tax returns would provide an incentive for new donations of up to $14.6 billion in the first year and more than $80 billion over 5 years. The report also projects that this change in the tax laws would induce more than 11.7 million new donors to contribute.

The non-itemizer charitable deduction would also benefit current donors. For example, the median household income of donors to the March of Dimes largest fundraising event, WalkAmerica, is $45,900 and more than 1.1 million direct mail donors to the Foundation have incomes of less than $50,000. It is interesting to note that the average annual donation to the March of Dimes is $20. Clearly, enactment of a bill that extends the charitable deduction to non-itemizers will bring greater equity to the code and ensure that all taxpayers benefit from favorable tax treatment of their donations.

If enacted, these proposals would benefit the March of Dimes and other charities who rely on small donations, by creating incentives for current donors and generating millions of new donors. The donations stimulated by these changes in the tax code would provide increased resources for expanding the Foundation’s investment in cutting-edge research, widening the distribution of education materials aimed at preventing birth defects and infant mortality, and increasing support of community-based programs to improve birth outcomes.

The March of Dimes strongly urges the Committee to approve these needed changes to the tax code this year. Extending the charitable deduction to non-itemizers and allowing tax-free withdrawals from IRAs for charitable giving are proposals that have broad bipartisan support in Congress and have been endorsed by the President. March of Dimes staff and volunteers across the country stand ready to work with you to secure final passage of these important proposals.

For more information contact Marina L. Weiss or Emil Wigode, March of Dimes Office of Government Affairs at (202) 659-1800.

Founded in 1938 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of infants and children by preventing birth defects and infant mortality.