Washington Snapshot - June 13, 2014
We loved seeing so many of our readers and Council members at our 2014 Annual Conference: Philanthropy Exchange this week! We hope you enjoyed your time in D.C., connected with colleagues old and new, and learned as much as we did.
Community Foundation Survey
Last week, your community foundation may have received a survey on donor advised funds (DAFs) from Elizabeth Boris of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at The Urban Institute. As the Council and our colleagues address critical issues of concern to community foundations regarding DAFs, this survey will inform us and help us to develop strategies for engaging effectively with Members of Congress and their staff.
Our intent is to provide the full picture of DAFs and their importance to communities nationwide. This survey is critical to increasing education and understanding. If you’ve received the survey, you may note that it presents some new questions that haven’t been addressed in prior surveys by the Council or other organizations. They aim to address issues including the types and timing of investments DAFs make in communities here and abroad, and the relationships community foundations have with their donors.
Please take the time to fill out this short electronic survey and return it to Urban by June 18th. If you have questions or would like more information, please e-mail govt@cof.org. Or, you can connect directly with The Urban Institute; Nathan Dietz can be reached at 202-261-5775 or ndietz@urban.org.
News from the Hill
Implications of Cantor Loss
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA-7) historic primary loss has been front-page news this week. Representative Cantor lost his seat to Tea Party candidate Dave Brat in the Republican primary in his Richmond-area district on Tuesday, catching even the most seasoned Washington insiders off guard.
On Wednesday, Cantor announced that he would step down as Majority Leader by the end of July, creating a behind-the-scenes competition among Republicans for this coveted leadership post. However, as of press time this morning, Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23), the current Majority Whip, was the only remaining candidate vying for the position.
Cantor’s defeat and a reshuffling of leadership roles within the House Republican caucus may mean even less legislative progress for the remainder of the year, The Washington Post and The Hill report. There is widespread speculation that Cantor’s defeat is largely attributable to his willingness to work towards a compromise on immigration reform. In other legislators—especially House Republicans—this could instill fear of compromise, or even the appearance of compromise, before the November election.
What does this mean for tax reform going forward? Since Cantor was not a major tax reform player, it isn’t entirely clear. However, it is clear that this leadership upset and the subsequent reshuffling of authority in the House will put any major legislative initiatives on hold in the near future. That said, Chairman David Camp (R-MI-4) is likely to continue his push at least in Committee to further reform.
And, activity in the Senate will move forward. As we told you last week, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden has indicated that he will hold tax reform hearings this summer on education tax incentives, taxpayer protection, and tax code modernization.
Philanthropy News and Op-Eds
Impact of McCutcheon on Grantmaking
As we just discussed in our Complicated Times annual conference session on nonprofits and the First Amendment, the Supreme Court’s McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission opinion will have significant implications on the flow of political dollars.
In the opinion, five Justices (Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas) ruled that aggregate donation caps for single donors to candidate committees and party committees were unconstitutional under First Amendment. McCutcheon does not change existing limits on how much individual donors can give to an individual candidate or party committee.
Now, some grantmakers are gearing up to fund programs working to overhaul our country’s campaign finance system, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. Grantmakers such as the Open Society Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, are concerned about the impact this decision will have on “the integrity of our representative democracy.” They fear that McCutcheon could “make a bad situation much worse” by allowing wealthy donors with party connections to give more to campaigns and have increasing influence over politics.
McCutcheon does not directly impact 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) organizations, but the potential for increased interest in grantmaking towards programs that seek to strengthen American democracy could have an influence on programming choices.
Future Challenges and Opportunities for Community Foundations
As this year marks the 100th anniversary of The Cleveland Foundation, the first foundation in the United States, there has been budding discussion surrounding what types of issues community foundations may face in the coming years. The philanthropic environment has evolved greatly from when the first community foundation was born in Cleveland in 1914, and it has become important for these organizations to consider strategies that will allow them to navigate this changing atmosphere and maintain the ability to positively impact the communities that they serve.
This past Monday during our 2014 Annual Conference: Philanthropy Exchange, Monitor Institute announced a new resource for community foundations to start thinking about the challenges ahead: the What’s Next for Community Philanthropy Toolkit. This resource also offers strategies to allow community foundations to address these challenges, as well as seize new opportunities.
2014 Annual Conference and Pre-Conference - Recap!
2014 Annual Conference: Philanthropy Exchange
Thank-you to all of those who joined us for our 2014 Annual Conference: Philanthropy Exchange. With more than 1,200 philanthropic leaders – attendees, speakers, partners and exhibitors – the conference opened conversations on the critical issues facing our society and the ways philanthropy can bridge what divides us. Those conversations aren't over! Here are five ways you can still take part:
- Look back at the conversation on social media with #PhilX14. You and your peers took to the internet to raise the voice of philanthropy, making #PhilX14 the number one topic in DC and a trending topic nationally. Look back at the questions raised and insights gained, then add your own voice. And be sure to look for our social media summary, which will be available next week.
- Relive the important moments with our video playback. Hear what leaders from around the field are saying about the conference and the lessons they learned.
- Share your thoughts on the Council's blog. Whether you were at the conference or not, share your thoughts by submitting a post to Re: Philanthropy, the Council's blog. Contact john.cochrane@cof.org for more information and to get started!
- Give us your feedback. We depend on feedback from attendees to design future events. Visit www.cof.org/annualeval to share your comments about what went well and what we can improve.
- Register for the Fall Conference for Community Foundations! We're going to Cleveland, Ohio, home of the world's first community foundation, to mark 100 years of community foundation service. Join us as we explore the unique importance of place-based philanthropy.
Philanthropy Exchange in the News
Members of the media were on hand at the conference to take in the action and to give their perspective on the sessions, speakers, and events.
Nonprofit Quarterly’s Rick Cohen was encouraged early in the conference and took some time to “spotlight examples of those foundations that … are standing up and stepping out on issues that warrant attention and should stimulate debate beyond press releases.” In his live blog from Monday, Cohen wrote about the need to remember rural communities in a society where we naturally tend to focus our attention on urban areas and highlighted a session on nonprofits, the First Amendment, and campaign finance issues.
Cohen also commented extensively on Sunday’s closing plenary, “Inequality, A Polarized Society, and Young Men of Color.” Among the speakers, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, Thomas Perez, addressed how the Obama Administration views and confronts the issues of poverty and inequality across our nation. He noted how the President’s recently-announced My Brother’s Keeper initiative – focusing on young men of color – seeks to improve outcomes in one segment of America’s vulnerable populations.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy also reported on nearly $200 million dollars that eleven different foundations have committed to Boys and Young Men of Color over five years. These foundations’ efforts will complement the White House’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative, and are aimed at improving the lives of young minority men.
Announcing New Board Members and Chair
The conference also marked the transition to a new Council Board Chair and the addition of two new Board members. Outgoing Chair Kevin Murphy, the President and CEO of the Berks County Community Foundation, handed over the gavel to Sherry Magill, President of the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund. The Council is grateful to Kevin Murphy for his excellent Board leadership, and we look forward to Sherry Magill’s tenure.
We also welcome two new Board members, Ann Cramer and Ken Jones. Ann is a Trustee of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. Ken is the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Special thanks to all of our Board members—new and departing!
