ACTION ALERT: Protect Arts and Culture from the Fiscal Cliff
One of those proposals would restrict or eliminate the tax deductions you and I can take for contributions to charitable institutions like arts and cultural organizations.
I am writing to ask you to join MASSCreative to voice your concern to Senators Kerry and Brown and your Congressional representative.
The creative community receives their operating budgets through ticket sales, public support from the MCC and NEA, and from generous donations from the public. Nationally, creative organizations generate an estimated one-third of their income from individual donations.
Please act today and send a clear message to our leaders in Washington DC. Copy and paste the text below and send it to Senator Kerry, Senator Brown, and your Congressperson. Find contact information for your Congressional representative here.
Economists agree that if the charitable tax deduction is eliminated, donations to the arts and cultural community and other non-profits will fall dramatically.
Keep up the good work,
Matt Wilson, Executive Director, MASSCreative
Dear (Name of Representative or Senator):
I appreciate the challenge you and your colleagues face addressing our nation’s budget deficit and the looming “fiscal cliff.”
As a supporter of the arts and cultural community in Massachusetts, I am troubled by reports that Congress is considering the restriction or elimination of an individual’s ability to deduct a charitable donation on his or her taxes. I strongly support preserving the full deductibility of itemized charitable deductions and oppose efforts to cap or eliminate this worthwhile deduction.
Amending the charitable deduction would have a significant impact on the Commonwealth’s artistic and cultural community. As you know, the creative community touches all parts of the state, generating more than $4 billion in economic activity and supporting more than 80,000 jobs.
While the creative community is grateful for the public funding it receives from the NEA and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, an estimated one third of the sector’s operating budgets come from individual donations. Any changes to charitable deductions would reduce the arts and cultural programming that makes Massachusetts an exciting place to live and work.
Please don’t balance the budget on the backs of the creative community and nonprofit sector. Keep the charitable giving deduction.
Sincerely,
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