Tax breaks to promote charitable giving cost the U.S. Treasury billions of dollars. Yet, such incentives historically have been enormously important for stimulating giving in the nonprofit center. With the government now thinking about revisiting philanthropic tax laws, this talk by Rob Reich, Stanford political science associate professor, comes at an opportune time.

Adressing a floor of nonprofit executives gathered at the 2008 Nonprofit Management Institute, an event convened by the Center for Social Innovation's award winning magazine, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Reich discusses philosophical justifications for tax incentives, and asks some tough questions: Should taxable income exclude charitable contributions? Are gifts to religious organizations, for example, really public goods? Showing the strengths and weaknesses of the various justifications for giving-related tax breaks, he provides the starting point for a new approach.