From Holly Welch Stubbing, senior vice president at Foundation for the Carolinas, and Bobbi Hapgood, executive director at N.C. Network of Grantmakers:

With debt talks heating up in Washington, our nation's leaders are looking everywhere for ways to cut budgets and bring down the deficit. Nothing is off the table, and charitable tax policies are, rightly, up for discussion along with everything else. Some lawmakers are asking whether the tax-exempt status of charitable contributions should continue unchanged. We strongly believe that the tax-exempt status of charitable contributions must be protected, or we risk widespread disruption in the nonprofit sector, with potentially dire repercussions for the economy.

Community foundations, such as Charlotte's Foundation For The Carolinas, are well positioned to understand the impact of the charitable deduction. We work with donors to make grants that support a variety of programs and activities in our schools, charities, cultural institutions and houses of worship. These grants accomplish immeasurable good throughout our community - but we should not ignore their economic impact.

Last year, grants made through private and community foundations supported more than 9.2 million jobs nationwide, and the latest data available indicate that the nonprofit community, including most universities, cultural institutions, some hospitals, houses of worship and other entities, directly provided 12.9 million jobs. In other words, the nonprofit sector is responsible for employing one out of 10 American workers. And throughout the recession, it has been a faster job growth engine than the for-profit sector. An analysis by the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society indicates that non-profit employment grew by an average of 2.5 percent per year between the second quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2009.

One of the best examples of nonprofits that create jobs can be found right here in Charlotte. Socialserve.com, founded in 1999, helps people find new homes or stay in their homes in the face of disasters or urban housing shortages. The program is now operational in 29 states - and it is one of our city's more vibrant small businesses, running a call center to support the program that is growing by 25 percent annually. At present, 65 staff members handle more than 24,000 phone calls a month from people in 29 states.

Nonprofits are also a great investment. Foundations invested $42.9 billion in nonprofits nationwide in 2009, coincidentally the same amount as the federal tax subsidy for the charitable deduction. A recent study found that every dollar invested by nonprofits resulted in more than $8 in direct economic benefits to U.S. communities - an enviable rate of return.

Politicians and policymakers should be doing everything they can to support the nonprofit community and its impact on our economy. That means protecting the charitable tax deduction, so we can continue to invest in programs that create jobs, move people into the workforce and out of poverty, and lay the groundwork for future financial security.