A report by the Newtithing Group philanthropic research group shows individual contributions to charity could triple in the U.S. without decreasing net worth, the Washington Post reports.
Individual charitable giving is currently $110 billion annually. The study shows that number could go as high as $350 billion.
Although individual net worth would not be significantly harmed, the federal government would see fewer dollars, since most giving is tax-deductible, the Post reports.
The government would also see less because most of the extra $240 billion would be in stock, the article states. That results in about $100 billion less annually for the federal budget.
The newspaper points out, though, that the charities getting this money may fill in the social services the government leaves out of its budget.
The article examines the Gates Foundation's recent $1 billion gift for college scholarships to minority students, which is quickly being instituted.
According to H. Peter Karoff, founder and president of the Philanthropic Initiative Inc. in Boston, other newly wealthy individuals are not able to decide on their philanthropic endeavors as fast as Bill Gates.
Karoff says that's partly because their wealth came at such a rapid pace, and cites an America Online employee as an example: the employee hasn't paid off her student loans yet, but she has $18 million in stock options and wants to give, the newspaper reports.
"I think what [quick wealth] creates is a 'permission-to-give' problem -- not really believing it and not being used to the numbers," Karoff tells the Post.
Arthur C. Frantzreb, who has collected data on giving as part of his work as a fundraiser, says that "Newtithing's figures for potential giving are too modest."
Frantzreb tells the Post that large gifts such as Gates' tend to inspire other large gifts.
A separate study from two researchers at Boston College shows that as older Americans die over the next 50 years, they will leave an estimated $41 trillion dollars in their estates -- $31 trillion more than earlier anticipated.
About $6 trillion of that likely will go to charity, according to the study by John J. Havens and Paul G. Schervish. That number is $4.5 trillion more than earlier estimated.
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