Recessions and Tax-Cuts: Economic Cycles’ Impact on Individual Giving, Philanthropy, and Higher Education

Abstract

Few researchers have examined how individual giving to higher education is effected by the economy, specifically during downturns and periodic changes in tax laws. Further understanding the relationship between the economy's cycles and philanthropic giving, including the correlation of tax cuts to donations, will help colleges and universities better prepare for future sustained downturns. Using data from the American Association of Fundraising Counsel's Giving USA annual reports on philanthropy from 1960 through 2005, the Council for the Aid to Education's Voluntary Support of Education database, and reports from Moody's Investors Services and the Aspen Institute, this paper investigates the relationship between recessions and voluntary giving to higher education. Finally, this paper explores how federal tax policy, specifically the tax cuts in 1986 and 2001, affects giving to higher education.