Legislation that would allow people who do not itemize their federal tax returns to receive a deduction for making charitable contributions could result in $217 million more in annual contributions to the United Way system and billions of dollars more to charities nationwide, a new study from the Arlington, Virginia-based charity finds.

The Charity Aid, Recovery, and Empowerment, or CARE, Act, which includes the non-itemizer provision, was recently re-introduced in the Senate by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), and similar legislation is expected to be re-introduced in the House in the coming weeks. Under the provision, single tax filers who use the standard deduction could deduct charitable contributions over $250, up to a ceiling of $500, while joint filers would be allowed to deduct contributions over $500, up to a ceiling of $1,000. To maximize new charitable giving, the deduction applies only to the portion of annual contributions that exceeds the minimums.

"Our research indicates that this represents an 8.4 percent increase in all employee/individual giving and a 26.7 percent increase for non-itemizers," said UWA president and CEO Brian Gallagher. "Based on the fact that non-itemizers contribute $36 billion annually to charities, this could lead to billions more dollars flowing into charitable organizations that would have direct impact on people's lives."