The Honorable Mitch McConnell The Honorable Harry Reid Senate Majority Leader Senate Minority Leader S-230, The Capitol S-221, The Capitol Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Paul Ryan The Honorable Speaker of the House House Minority Leader H-232, The Capitol H-204, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515

Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Reid, Speaker Ryan, and Minority Leader Pelosi:

The undersigned organizations, whose networks collectively represent tens of thousands of charities and foundations, urge Congress to act immediately on a permanent extension of the charitable giving incentives included in the expired tax extenders package.

Earlier this year, the House voted by a two-thirds majority to help the work of charities by restoring and making permanent three giving incentives: 1) the provision encouraging seniors to make contributions to charitable organizations through their individual retirement accounts; 2) the enhanced deduction for property donated for conservation purposes; and 3) the enhanced deduction for donations of excess food inventory. The House bill, the America Gives More Act, also included language to encourage private foundations to give more in times of crisis through simplifying the excise tax on their investment income. The Senate Finance Committee passed a measure to restore the first three provisions through 2016, but the full Senate has not yet considered the legislation.

As you know, after multiple attempts last year to make these giving incentives permanent, in December Congress resorted to a one-year extension as part of a broader package of lapsed tax provisions. As a result, the IRA charitable rollover and enhanced deductions for the donation of food inventory and land conservation easements were reinstated for just two weeks, before expiring again for the fifth time in recent years on January 1, 2015.

These donations have helped facilitate the protection of over one million acres of our country’s precious natural resources, provided food banks across the country access to the 70 billion pounds of nutritious food wasted each year, and encouraged American seniors to donate hundreds of millions of dollars from their retirement savings to the charities closest to their hearts, including places of worship, cultural institutions, and those helping the down-and-out get back on their feet.

For each day that goes by without an incentive in place and assured, many of the donations the incentives were intended to promote will simply not take place. The repeated expiration and retroactive renewal of these charitable giving incentives create tremendous uncertainty for individuals, families, and businesses who want to provide donations to help their communities, and for the charitable organizations working to meet the needs of their communities.

The time to reinstate and make permanent these provisions is now. The sector and all those we serve cannot wait. Strong bipartisan support will underscore our nation’s long-standing commitment to strengthening charities to do the important work of lifting up lives and improving communities. We are counting on your support.

Sincerely,

Agricultural Stewardship Association American Writers Museum Alachua Conservation Trust Americans for the Arts Action Fund Aloha United Way Ardea Arts, Inc. American Alliance of Museums Association of Art Museum Directors American Institute for Economic Research, Inc. Association of California Symphony Orchestras American Red Cross Association of Fundraising Professionals Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum Federation on Families for Children's Mental Avinity Senior Living Health CO Baltimore Woodwind Repair Feeding America Barber & Kinney, LLC First Choice Inspection Group, Inc, dba. Free Bayou Land Conservancy Help Education Organization Beatty Museum FOOD for Lane County Beaufort County Open Land Trust Fort Worth Opera Bedford Historical Society Gallatin Valley Land Trust Bitter Root Land Trust Gilmore International Keyboard Festival & Black Swamp Conservancy Awards Blowing Rock Art and History Museum Gilroy Historical Society Blue Ridge Land Conservancy Girl Scouts of the USA BoardSource Godwin-Ternbach Museum Boston Baroque Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center Brenda Moore and Associates LLC Goodwill Industries International, Inc. Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy Grand Haven Area Community Foundation Catholic Charities USA Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy Cedarmere Foundation Great Peninsula Conservancy Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank Central Savannah River Land Trust Greenville Symphony Orchestra Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy HeartLands Conservancy Chelan-Douglas Land Trust Historical Society of Pennsylvania Chicago History Museum Housatonic Valley Association, Inc. Chicago Human Rhythm Project Illinois Collaboration on Youth Chilkat Valley Historical Society Independent Sector Cincinnati Opera Indian Hill Music Civic Orchestra of Tucson Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation Classic Lyric Arts, Inc. IRIS Orchestra Classical Movements JK Moving Services Clean Water Land Katy Prairie Conservancy Clinton Symphony Orchestra Kinney Land Company, LLC Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts Knoxville Opera Nonprofit Association Ku'ikahi Mediation Center Colorado Springs Philharmonic Lake Erie Region Conservancy Community FoodBank of New Jersey Lake Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, Lake/Geauga Educational Assistance Inc. Foundation Community Foundation of Western Lancaster Farmland Trust Connecticut Association of Nonprofits Land Trust Alliance Connections to Success Land Trust of Arkansas Conservation Trust for Florida LeadingAge Conservation Trust for North Carolina LeadingAge California Copper River Watershed Project League of American Orchestras Council of Michigan Foundations Lewis & Clark Trail Visitors Center Foundation Council on Foundations Lexington Symphony Orchestra CT Nonprofit Human Service Alliance Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Lummi Island Heritage Trust Dad's Garage, Inc. Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc. Dakota Center, Inc. Luther Crest Bible Camp Dance/USA Lutheran Services in America Defenders of Wildlife March of Dimes Delaware Symphony Orchestra Mariners Inn Deschutes Land Trust Mark Morris Dance Group Detroit Zoological Society McHenry County Historical Society & Museum Eagle Valley Land Trust Meadowlark Methodist Food Pantry EcoTrust Memphis Symphony Orchestra Michigan Historic Preservation Network Shasta Land Trust Michigan Nonprofit Association Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum Minnesota Opera Sheepscot Wellspring Land Alliance Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Sierra Foothill Conservancy Mohonk Preserve Sledgehammer Theatre Monadnock Conservancy Somers Land Trust Montana Association of Land Trusts South Baltimore Learning Center Mother Lode Land Trust Southeast Missouri Food Bank Multiple System Atrophy Coalition Speaker law firm MUSE/IQUE Studebaker National Museum Museum of Fine Arts Tacoma Opera Association Nantucket Historical Association Tacoma Symphony Orchestra Naromi Land Trust Tall Pines Consevancy Nashville Opera Association Tewksbury Land Trust National Alliance of Forest Owners Texas Land Trust Council National Council of Nonprofits Thanksgiving Point Institute National Woodland Owners Association The Central Coast Land Conservancy Nevada Land Trust The Children's Museum of Indianapolis New Hampshire Land Trust Coalition The Cleveland Zoological Society New River Conservancy The Conservation Foundation New River Land Trust The Haggin Museum Niagara County Historical Society The Henry Ford Nonprofit Association of Oregon The Jewish Federations of North America North East Wisconsin Land Trust The Land Conservancy of McHenry County North Shore Land Alliance The Nature Conservancy Northern California Regional Land Trust The Salvation Army National Headquarters NY Funders Alliance The Science Factory, Inc. Oakland Symphony The Trust for Public Land Opacum Land Trust The Wooden Floor OPERA America Three Village Community Trust Opera Memphis Truckee Donner Land Trust Orchestra Miami United Charitable Oregon Food Bank United Way Worldwide OWL-The Voice of Women 40+ University of Nebraska State Museum Paducah Symphony Orchestra Urban Gateways Peconic Land Trust Open Lands Conservation Association Placer Land Trust Utah Symphony | Utah Opera Portland Opera Association Valley Symphony Orchestra & Chorale Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate Voices for Children Rensselaer Plateau Alliance VOICExperience Foundation Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Washington Concert Opera River Fields, Inc Washington Nonprofits Rockford Area Historical Society Washington St Family Service Center Rockford Symphony Orchestra West Central Ohio Land Conservancy Rogue Valley Symphony Western Pennsylvania Conservancy SafeHouse Western Reserve Land Conservancy San Diego Visual Arts Network Wild South San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory Wildling Museum Santa Cecilia Orchestra William King Museum of Art Sarasota Opera Association, Inc. Winston-Salem Symphony Save Mount Diablo Women's Business Development Center Seattle Opera Wrightsville Beach Museum of History Sequoia Riverlands Trust YMCA of the USA Shared Harvest Foodbank Ziegler Sanctuary

CC: All Members of the 114th Congress