Foster a policy environment in which philanthropy can grow and thrive.
The Council supports a policy environment that ensures philanthropic institutions have the tools, flexibility, and support needed to achieve their missions. While the Council supports appropriate oversight from federal regulatory agencies and policymakers, overly burdensome requirements harm foundations’ ability to meet the needs of communities today and into the future. Research shows the 5 percent payout rate accurately reflects the historic return on assets earned by private foundations. Increasing the payout requirement for private foundations would unnecessarily limit philanthropy’s ability to respond to future crises.
Expand charitable giving by enacting policies that encourage more individuals to donate and fairly recognize all who contribute to nonprofit organizations.
The Council recognizes the important role of tax policy to incentivize individuals to charitably give both their money and time to nonprofit and community organizations. The Council will prioritize policies that recognize all individuals for their charitable contributions, including a charitable tax credit.
Improve global grantmaking by streamlining and modernizing regulations to make cross-border charitable giving easier and more efficient.
As the world becomes increasingly globalized, many Grantmakers are looking to serve a broader community through their philanthropy. The Council supports streamlining and modernizing regulations to make it easier for philanthropy to respond to disaster assistance, humanitarian aid, or developmental support, as well as advance locally led initiatives in communities around the world.
Recognize the vital role of the nonprofit sector in building and supporting vibrant communities.
A healthy and diverse nonprofit sector is critical to a strong civil society. Yet, as policymakers are considering federal funding and programs, they too often create unnecessary barriers and challenges for the nonprofit sector as employers and service providers. As nonprofit organizations continue to respond to ongoing demands for their essential services, workforce shortages, and emerging community needs, policymakers should engage diverse voices across the field to ensure the needs of the nonprofit sector are heard and addressed. The Council supports a policy environment where federal investments and policies appropriately recognize and support the critical role of nonprofit organizations in strengthening communities.
Strengthen and expand foundations’ ability to assist students and recent graduates through scholarship grant programs.
Philanthropy has had an important role in helping millions of students afford and access a post-graduation education. The Council supports efforts to establish charitable post-graduation scholarships, which can be awarded to an individual who has student loans and completed a degree or technical program in a career field that is needed in a particular region. Currently, post-graduation scholarship recipients must pay income taxes on their grant awards. In addition, the Council opposes scholarship displacement, a practice when a student’s financial aid from their college or university is reduced because the individual receives a scholarship from a different organization. Congress can do more to support foundations’ work to ensure more affordable postsecondary education for more students and that communities can better attract the workforce they need to thrive.
Continue to support the Johnson Amendment.
The Johnson amendment helps ensure that all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations are protected from having to engage in political activity. Qualifying nonprofits cannot engage in political campaign activities, including endorsing or opposing political candidates or other actions that are viewed as intervening in elections for public office. The Council will continue to support the charitable sector’s involvement in public policy by current rules and regulations.
As drafted, H.R.9495 includes language that creates redundancies and confusion while providing the executive branch with expansive new authority that could be abused. This legislation would allow the Secretary of the Treasury to designate section 501(c) nonprofits as “terrorist supporting organizations” at the Secretary’s discretion, without requiring the Secretary to share their full evidence or reasoning with accused nonprofits. Join us in opposing this bill.
