Review of Reviews: “Conspicuous Philanthropy: A Response,” 67 Am. U. L. Rev. F. 1 (March 2018)Review of Reviews: “Conspicuous Philanthropy: A Response,” 67 Am. U. L. Rev. F. 1 (March 2018)

Professor William Drennan’s article, “Conspicuous Philanthropy: Reconciling Contract and Tax Laws,” and Prof. Joel S. Newman’s response to it, “Conspicuous Philanthropy: A Response,” both center on the question: What’s the fair market value (FMV) of naming rights, specifically in the non-commercial context?

This question has obvious and, perhaps, hitherto overlooked, implications for the tax deductibility of large charitable donations. As Prof. Drennan points out, donors have the burden of proving the amount they gave to charity in excess of the benefits they received in return from the donee (citing United States v. American Bar Endowment). 

That is, if you donate $10.5 million to the symphony hall at Lincoln Center in New York City to pa...