In Rural Communities, Giving Isn’t Extra. It’s Essential

In a place like Pulaski County, we don’t wait for someone else to fix a problem. We call a neighbor. We pass the hat. We show up.

That’s what giving looks like in rural Indiana. Small acts of generosity make a big difference. A local business helps cover uniforms for the baseball team. A retired teacher donates to the food pantry. Someone leaves a check at the library with a sticky note that says, “For the kids.”

We may not have big cities or large nonprofits, but we have something just as powerful: each other.

That’s why I’m concerned about a proposal in Congress that would limit when businesses can deduct charitable contributions. It would require companies to donate more than one percent of their taxable income before they could count it as a deduction. For a big corporation, that might not seem like a lot. But for a small-town business — the ones that sponsor our school fundraisers and pitch in without being asked — it could be enough to make them think twice.

And we can’t afford for anyone to think twice right now.

With public funding getting tighter and services stretched thin, communities like ours are depending more than ever on local generosity. Whether it’s helping a family through a medical crisis or making sure kids have somewhere safe to go after school, that support is what holds rural places together.

Philanthropy isn’t just a nice thing to have. It’s part of how we get by.

There is some good news. Congress is also looking at bringing back the charitable deduction for people who don’t itemize on their taxes. That’s a step in the right direction, especially for communities like ours, where most folks take the standard deduction. It would reward the kind of everyday giving that already defines rural Indiana.

That’s why I joined Indiana Philanthropy Alliance last month in Washington to meet directly with our congressional delegation and share what the congressional proposal means for communities like Pulaski County.

Here’s my ask: To our elected leaders, please don’t make it harder to give. Support the universal charitable deduction, and please oppose the one percent floor on corporate giving deductions. Smalltown generosity depends on people being able to help and being encouraged to give.

We’ll keep looking out for each other here in Pulaski County. We just hope our lawmakers will do the same. Leeann Wright Executive Director, Community Foundation of Pulaski County