Another idea to help raise donations for Rutgers / athletics

[RUfinal4]

While we are hearing much of the stuff the athletic department wants to do has to be privately funded with no state help maybe the state can help with a soft type benefit.

What if the state would allow donations to Rutgers and other educational non-profits to be deducted from your NJ state tax return at a rate of $2 of incentives for each dollar donated. It won't work as a Rutgers only thing because of political pressure but if other non-profit educational groups can benefit too i think it would work. This would not affect the IRS but only the NJ state return since that is all NJ can control.

 

[Greene Rice FIG]

So if I donate money to cancer research I get a $1 NJ tax write off, but if I invest in a facility for 12 basketball players (1/2 will never earn a Rutgers degree) so they can have a hot tub, arcade, ping pong table, and a cushy locker room I get a $2 NJ tax write off.

 

[derleider]

Originally posted by Greene Rice FIG:
So if I donate money to cancer research I get a $1 NJ tax write off, but if I invest in a facility for 12 basketball players (1/2 will never earn a Rutgers degree) so they can have a hot tub, arcade, ping pong table, and a cushy locker room I get a $2 NJ tax write off.

Exactly. If anything, the federal government should be removing the tax deductiblity of college sports giving, not expanding it.

 

[RUfinal4]

Originally posted by derleider:

Originally posted by Greene Rice FIG:
So if I donate money to cancer research I get a $1 NJ tax write off, but if I invest in a facility for 12 basketball players (1/2 will never earn a Rutgers degree) so they can have a hot tub, arcade, ping pong table, and a cushy locker room I get a $2 NJ tax write off.

Exactly. If anything, the federal government should be removing the tax deductiblity of college sports giving, not expanding it.

This would be for the NJ tax return only and not the IRS return. The IRS will not change their rules. This would be a way for NJ to try and inspire those to give to NJ educational non-profits. As mentioned it would not be for Rutgers athletics only but for NJ based non-profit educational donations. If you donated to an academic fund at Rutgers you would get the same donation benefit from NJ only. It would apply to the other NJ based non-profit Colleges /. Universities (ie. Princeton, TCNJ, Montclair St, FDU, County Colleges, etc...). In addition, it would apply to the school districts as well if they are doing fundraising for a new building or other capital improvements. The only area where it may need additional language is for the religious based schools to assure the money donated is going towards educational arm of the institution and not to the general fund of a church / temple, or mosque.

Knowing our politicians it may become all NJ non-profits including religious based that would open up extra deductibility for giving to churches, temples, mosques, non-profit hospitals, soup kitchens, and other charities like the ones run by the Robert Wood Johnson foundation.

As much as we would like, it can't be a Rutgers only thing in this state.