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"We're in a bad crisis right now," says Enid Borden, chief executive of the Meals on Wheels Association of America. A survey found that 58% of its local chapters had lost volunteers because of gas prices.

Non-profits are pushing Congress to give a bigger tax deduction to those who drive their own vehicles for charities. Now, volunteers can deduct only 14 cents for every mile, a rate set by Congress.

The rate was last raised from 12 to 14 cents in 1998. Unlike the charitable mileage deduction, the Internal Revenue Service can raise the deduction for business and other travel without congressional approval. A new business rate took effect Tuesday.

"If someone donates $1,000, they get a $1,000 tax deduction," says Rep. Todd Platts, R-Pa. "If they drive for a charity, they should get a deduction that reflects the real cost." Platts has introduced a bill to raise the deduction for charitable driving to the new 58.5-cent deduction for business driving.

He says the bill's biggest hurdle is Congress' pay-as-you-go budget rules that require a spending cut or tax increase elsewhere to offset revenue lost from increasing the tax deduction.

Congress hasn't estimated the cost of boosting the deduction. But it could make a big difference to volunteers. A volunteer driving 20 miles a week now qualifies for a $146-per-year tax deduction. At the business rate, the deduction would be $608 a year.

"It's a big issue. Fourteen cents a mile doesn't even cover the cost of gasoline," says Rozie O'Brien, who runs a Hutchinson, Kan., Meals on Wheels program that delivers 1,400 meals a day. How high gas prices are affecting non-profits:

•American Red Cross. The organization is spending $10,000 extra a day on fuel at Midwestern flood sites. Many of its flood relief volunteers — 5,000 people from 48 states — would benefit from a higher deduction. "Those who travel long distances need this change. The cost of volunteering is getting more and more expensive," says Joe Becker, senior vice president of disaster relief.

•Catholic Charities. The agency's 250,000 volunteers — especially those who serve the housebound — need an increase in the mileage deduction, says Candy Hill, senior vice president of Catholic Charities USA.

• Volunteer fire departments. Some departments are organizing fundraisers just for fuel, says Philip Stittleburg, president of the National Volunteer Fire Council and a fire chief in La Farge, Wis.

TELL US: What charities and other philanthropic groups get your participation? How have gas prices or the economy affected your groups? If you've seen effects, how have they changed your giving or good works online? We'd like to hear your stories.