The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that was signed into law by President Trump in December 2017 is one of the worst pieces of legislation ever passed, mainly because it so dramatically widens an already obscene gap between rich and poor. The Tax Policy Center estimates that in 2018, taxpayers with incomes of $1 million or more will get an average tax cut of $69,660, while those under $75,000 will get an average cut of $353.

During the summer, many nonprofits—perhaps yours included—take a break from active fundraising. Your donors, staff and board members travel for vacations. Your staff and volunteers may be recovering from intensive spring fundraising events, or you may be taking a breather before the busy fall fundraising season.

Normally I wear my fundraising consultant hat but I am now sitting on the other side of the desk, as an interim staff person at a small nonprofit, trying to figure out whether or not my organization should participate in Giving Tuesday for the first time.

That more giving is done in December than any other month has been true for fundraising in all of the decades that we’ve been working in and with nonprofits. There are many reasons for this including that December includes major holidays focused on giving and that donors who itemize their deductions on their tax returns (just 1/3 of taxpayers in the U.S.) often wait until the end of the year to see how much they should give to maximize their deductions in that year.