Research On Religion » philanthropy http://www.researchonreligion.org A weekly podcast exploring academic research on religion and featuring top scholars in history, sociology, political science, economics and religious studies. Sun, 16 Sep 2018 08:00:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.39 David Wills on Religious Charity and Taxes http://www.researchonreligion.org/practioneers/david-wills-on-religious-charity-and-taxes-2 http://www.researchonreligion.org/practioneers/david-wills-on-religious-charity-and-taxes-2#comments Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:00:05 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=2460 (While your host is taking a short break, we rebroadcast this interview from two years ago.  The issues remain as timely today as they were then!)

David Wills, president of the National Christian Foundation (NCF) and a lawyer specializing in charitable giving and estate planning, joins our program to discuss the relationship between charitable giving, taxation and other government regulations.  Our discussion starts on a broad philosophical level, examining how our society decides to allocate resources to solve various social problems — either via private charity or government intervention.  We center our attention on disaster relief  but observe that the pincipals we discuss apply to a wide range of social services.  David reviews how his foundation operates and facilitates the relationship between donors and charitable organizations, which include both religious and secular organizations.  Surprisingly, we discover that the NCF not only serves large philanthropic donors, but regular folks who might be donating just a couple thousand dollars each year.  Tony notes that the NCF represents a unique entrepreneurial institution that allows individuals to make the most efficient use of their giving.  We then discuss whether increases in taxation and government services have affected level and nature of charitable giveing.  David provides an interesting grassroots perspective on this issue that contrasts with an earlier podcast we had with Daniel Hungerman.  Our conversation turns to tax laws and other regulations affecting charitable organizations.  David discusses how both tax rates and the regulatory defnition of what constitutes a charity can have a large impact on religious charity.  He provides some insight into some potential legal and tax code changes on the horizon that may have a large impact on NGOs and donors.  Anybody who runs, or donates to, a charitable organization will want to listen closely to what is happening as these changes are not widely discussed in the news media.  Tony asks David about his thoughts on the Bush Administration’s Faith-Based Insiative.  David finishes with some interesting observations about the role of megachurches with respect to these potential legal changes and his views on the future of megachurches contrasts with that of our previous guest, James Brettell.  Recorded: March 23, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

The National Christian Foundation.

Investing in God’s Business, by Terry Parker, Gregory Sperry, and David Wills.  (Free selection here.)

Family.Money: Five Questions Every  Family Should Ask about Wealth, by David Wills, Terry Parker, and Gregory Sperry.  (Free selection here.)

RELATED PODCASTS

Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out.

Jay Hein on the Faith-Based and Community Initiative

]]> http://www.researchonreligion.org/practioneers/david-wills-on-religious-charity-and-taxes-2/feed 0 David Wills on Religious Charity and Taxes http://www.researchonreligion.org/uncategorized/david-wills-on-religious-charity-and-taxes http://www.researchonreligion.org/uncategorized/david-wills-on-religious-charity-and-taxes#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:00:45 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=736 David Wills, president of the National Christian Foundation (NCF) and a lawyer specializing in charitable giving and estate planning, joins our program to discuss the relationship between charitable giving, taxation and other government regulations.  Our discussion starts on a broad philosophical level, examining how our society decides to allocate resources to solve various social problems — either via private charity or government intervention.  We center our attention on disaster relief  but observe that the pincipals we discuss apply to a wide range of social services.  David reviews how his foundation operates and facilitates the relationship between donors and charitable organizations, which include both religious and secular organizations.  Surprisingly, we discover that the NCF not only serves large philanthropic donors, but regular folks who might be donating just a couple thousand dollars each year.  Tony notes that the NCF represents a unique entrepreneurial institution that allows individuals to make the most efficient use of their giving.  We then discuss whether increases in taxation and government services have affected level and nature of charitable giveing.  David provides an interesting grassroots perspective on this issue that contrasts with an earlier podcast we had with Daniel Hungerman.  Our conversation turns to tax laws and other regulations affecting charitable organizations.  David discusses how both tax rates and the regulatory defnition of what constitutes a charity can have a large impact on religious charity.  He provides some insight into some potential legal and tax code changes on the horizon that may have a large impact on NGOs and donors.  Anybody who runs, or donates to, a charitable organization will want to listen closely to what is happening as these changes are not widely discussed in the news media.  Tony asks David about his thoughts on the Bush Administration’s Faith-Based Insiative.  David finishes with some interesting observations about the role of megachurches with respect to these potential legal changes and his views on the future of megachurches contrasts with that of our previous guest, James Brettell.  Recorded: March 23, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

The National Christian Foundation.

Investing in God’s Business, by Terry Parker, Gregory Sperry, and David Wills.  (Free selection here.)

Family.Money: Five Questions Every  Family Should Ask about Wealth, by David Wills, Terry Parker, and Gregory Sperry.  (Free selection here.)

RELATED PODCASTS

Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out.

Jay Hein on the Faith-Based and Community Initiative.

]]> http://www.researchonreligion.org/uncategorized/david-wills-on-religious-charity-and-taxes/feed 2 Dan Hungerman on Religious Charity and Crowding Out http://www.researchonreligion.org/social-issues/dan-hungerman-on-religious-charity-and-crowding-out http://www.researchonreligion.org/social-issues/dan-hungerman-on-religious-charity-and-crowding-out#comments Mon, 04 Oct 2010 08:00:23 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=343 Dan Hungerman — assistant professor of economics at Notre Dame and Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research — joins Tony to discuss his pathbreaking research on how government and other secular entities compete with religious organizations.  The first half of the podcast is devoted to Prof. Hungerman’s research on how government welfare spending and taxation “crowds out” religiously-provided services and charitable giving.  Dan shows how FDR’s New Deal during the Great Depression led to a significant decline in church-based welfare, which can be attributed directly to a “crowding out” effect.  We turn our attention to the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, which represented a rollback of several social service programs.  Dan discusses his research showing that the Presbyterian Church responded by increasing its provision of welfare to communities facing a reduction in federal aid.  The effect of government welfare and taxation on individual charitable contributions becomes the focus of our discussion and we examine how the racial diversity of a community can affect “warm glow” giving.  The podcast concludes with an examination of how the elimination of “blue laws” allowed shopping malls and other secular activities to compete for people’s attention on Sunday mornings and how this reduced church attendance and tithing.  Dan offers his thoughts about the relationship between the National Football League and religion in this concluding segment.  Recorded: August 30, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Dan Hungerman’s website.

“Faith-Based Charity and Crowd Out During the Great Depression,” by Jonathan Gruber and Daniel Hungerman.  NBER Working Paper.

“Are Church and State Substitutes? Evidence from the 1996 Welfare Reform,” by Daniel Hungerman. (Also published in Journal of Public Economics.)

“Diversity and Crowd Out: A Theory of Cold Glow Giving,” by Daniel Hungerman.  NBER Working Paper. (Also published in Journal of Public Economics.)

“The Church vs. the Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased Secular Competition?” by Jonathan Gruber and Daniel Hungerman.  NBER Working Paper.  (Also published in Quarterly Journal of Economics.)

RELATED PODCASTS

Jay Hein on the Faith-Based and Community Iniative.

]]> http://www.researchonreligion.org/social-issues/dan-hungerman-on-religious-charity-and-crowding-out/feed 1 Jay Hein on the Faith-Based & Community Initiative http://www.researchonreligion.org/social-issues/jay-hein-on-the-faith-based-community-initiative http://www.researchonreligion.org/social-issues/jay-hein-on-the-faith-based-community-initiative#comments Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:00:58 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=322 Jay Hein — Distinguished Senior Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion and founding president of The Sagamore Institute — talks with Tony about his tenure running the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) in the Bush Administration (2006-08).  We begin by discussing the role of private charity in the US economy and briefly review the historical interaction between government and religious groups.  Our attention then turns to the operation of the OFBCI with particular emphasis on how the program was designed not only to provide funding opportunities for religious charities, but perhaps more importantly to remove regulatory barriers standing in the way of these groups and to facilitate a more cooperative relationship with state and federal governments.  Hein provides several examples of how the Faith-Based Initiative worked in practice, including prisoner re-entry programs and AIDS relief in Africa.  Another underlying theme of the podcast relates to the proper relationship between government and religious organizations.  President Barack Obama’s continuation of this program is also mentioned.  We condlude our discussion with some critiques of the Faith-Based Initiative and the Supreme Court case initiated by the Freedom from Religion Foundation.  Recorded: August 18, 2010.

RELATED LINKS

Jay Hein’s website at Baylor’s ISR.

The Sagamore Institute (Indianapolis, IN).

The President’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative in the 50 States: Report to the Nation’s Governors  (Feb. 2008).

President Barack Obama’s Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Hudson Institute’s Index of Global Philanthropy & Remittances 2010.

RELATED PODCASTS

Mark David Hall on Religion & the Founding Fathers.

Erik Stanley on Clergy & Free Speech.

Byron Johnson on Religion & Delinquency.

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