It's a source of perpetual anxiety for anyone in the Catholic Church concerned or tasked with the sources of support that enable its mission: Will the faithful keep giving what they give?
That concern was likely stoked afresh when the Trump administration's signature budget legislation -- the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" -- was signed into law by the president on July 4, containing several brief, but perhaps concerning paragraphs now applied to tax deductions for individual charitable giving.
Itemized charitable deductions can now only be taken to the extent they exceed 0.5% of adjusted gross income. Top-bracket taxpayers can claim only a 35% tax deduction for charitable gifts, versus the full 37% that would otherwise apply to their income tax rate. Additionally, the bill permanently extended a 60% of adjusted gross income contribution limit for cash gifts made to certain qualifying charities.
J. Matthew Kramer -- president and CEO of The Catholic Foundation, the nation's longest-serving Catholic community foundation, headquartered in Dallas -- predicted little impact on their operations.
The foundation has distributed $219 million in grants during the past decade; in 2024, 965 local and global organizations received grants.
"Our charitable giving at The Catholic Foundation has only grown in the last 10, 15 years -- donors have become more aware of what we do here," Kramer told OSV News. "But also, people are just very generous -- and I think from the results of the stock markets, with appreciated assets, people are focused on how they can make a difference in the world. So I don't see any immediate impact from this in particular."
"Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy" -- the longest-running and most comprehensive account of the sources and uses of charitable giving in America -- reported U.S. charitable giving grew to $592.5 billion in 2024, lifted by stock market gains.
The members of the 2023 Forbes 400 list have collectively given more than $250 billion to charity -- but by Forbes' count, that amounts to less than 6% of their combined net worth.
"We are a community foundation," explained Kramer, "so it's a little different than if you're talking to somebody from Catholic Charities or maybe St. Vincent de Paul, or something like that."
Catholic Charities USA declined to comment for this story.
"We help people to simplify and streamline and maximize their charitable giving -- not only for their current giving, but also for legacy giving when they set up their estate plans and so forth," Kramer continued. "So it's a little different business model. I just think most people will give to charity during their lifetimes and in their estates for reasons other than a tax deduction."
A 2024 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research, or NBER, found that, following the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act during the first Trump administration, 23 million households switched from itemizing charitable deductions to the standard deduction -- and charitable giving dropped by $20 billion.
This January, five U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee chairs addressed a letter to the leadership of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance and the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. The prelates signing the letter, and their committees, were: Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, domestic policy; Bishop David M. O'Connell of Trenton, New Jersey, Catholic education; Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, migration; Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, pro-life activities); and Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, laity, marriage, family life and youth.
"The tax code," the bishops stated, citing the 2024 NBER study, "should encourage voluntary association, mutual aid, and a culture of giving, helping rather than hurting groups who would be asked to do more for the poor if there are cuts to poverty programs. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the standard deduction, but did not move the charitable deduction 'above the line.'"
"This resulted in tax incentives for charitable giving being now primarily available to high income families, and as a result," the bishops concluded, "overall giving has significantly decreased."
On June 26 -- days before President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" passed the U.S. Senate, the same bishops -- with the addition of Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chairman of the Committee on Religious Liberty -- sent another missive to U.S. Senate members.
They praised the "inclusion of a $1000 'above-the-line' charitable deduction in the Senate bill," noting it was "a very positive step in the right direction." Nonetheless, they asked the senators to "continue to find ways to expand participation to help reverse the decline in charitable giving."
"I think right now I think it's too early to tell," said Eric McArdle, president and co-founder of Catholic Stewardship Consultants Inc., which has for over 20 years worked with hundreds of parishes across the country offering guidance for parish capital campaigns, newsletters, surveys, social media and leadership retreats.
"I can tell you that in our work with Catholic parishes, this quickly, we have not seen it negatively impact parish giving at all -- but again, it's kind of a wait and see," he said. "I do think that it'll take a year or two for us to really see if it does (have an) impact."
McArdle told OSV News that his advice, however, is not to wait and see.
"What I would tell any pastor -- or what I would tell any bishop -- that is concerned about this, is: The more you focus on stewardship and teaching your parishioners -- when they talk about that on a regular basis, and work that into the life of their parish and their diocese in terms of how they're trying to call their parishioners to grow as disciples of Jesus -- it is significantly less likely for things like this to impact their giving to their local parish in particular."
McArdle said he has been here before -- and that an integrated message is the best parish giving insurance.
"The parishes that we've worked with over the last few years -- when they focus on that holistic message of stewardship and discipleship -- even during these times where there has been high inflation and people's discretionary income has gone down, we've seen parish offertories increase."
Guilt tactics, he cautioned, do not work.
"Because people are looking at their own finances, and then the parish is trying to say, 'Well, now we're hurting too -- so you need to give.' And people will kind of give a little bit here and there," said McArdle. "But when the reason they're giving isn't because they're giving back to God in gratitude -- when they feel like they're giving just to a need or their arm is being twisted -- that's when we see in the down times, the giving goes down."
He also counseled parish transparency.
"Parishes that are transparent and say, 'Here's the money coming in. Here's the money going out' -- in a general way, so the people have some idea of the state of the parish -- at the same time as preaching a holistic message of stewardship and discipleship, that combination," McArdle said, "is what helps insulate parishes financially as the economy or as households go through rough times."
