Statement for Subcommittee on Oversight Hearing on “Fueling Chaos: Tracing the Flow of Tax-Exempt Dollars to Antisemitism”

Chairman Smith, Chairman Schweikert, Ranking Member Neal, and Ranking Member Pascrell, thank you for the opportunity to submit written comments to be included in the record of the Subcommittee on Oversight’s hearing on July 23, 2024, “Fueling Chaos: Tracing the Flow of Tax-Exempt Dollars to Antisemitism.”  

The Council on Foundations is a nonprofit membership association that guides philanthropies as they advance the greater good. Building on our 75-year history, the Council supports more than 900 member organizations in the United States and around the world to build trust in philanthropy, expand pathways to giving, engage broader perspectives, and co-create solutions that will lead to a better future for all.  

Council members are located in all 50 states, as well as other countries. They reflect a wide range of perspectives, beliefs, and approaches to addressing the many challenges facing our communities and regions. The investments and support by foundations fuel innovation, respond to natural disasters, provide vital services to vulnerable communities, contribute to economic development, and forge public-private partnerships that leverage the strengths of various institutions to address longstanding, pervasive issues such as substandard housing and lead pipes in homes.  

The Council does not condone antisemitism, islamophobia, or any form of discrimination. Hate is not charitable and has no place in our work or in our discourse. Sadly, over the past several years, we have seen the climate of civil discourse decline, with a rise in hate speech, extremist rhetoric, and moments of political violence. We all have a responsibility to maintain a respectful civil society, and the tax-exempt sector must do all it can to protect and strengthen an open and safe civil space.  

Philanthropy has a duty to ensure that charitable dollars do not support organizations that promote hate, extremism, or violence. As the Committee grapples with how to address the rise in hate speech, we urge you to look to what our sector is already doing to show members of the Committee and the public our commitment to this necessary and important task. 

Among the Council’s core beliefs is integrity: public trust in philanthropy expands when our field demonstrates high professional and ethical standards, integrates perspectives from those most affected by our decisions, and commits to continual learning. To the broader philanthropic sector, the Council continues to demonstrate its commitment to rejecting hate and extremism. The Council promotes the highest standards of ethical behavior for our members. These ethical principles call for integrity; strengthening public trust; effective ethical standards including whistleblower, anti-discrimination, and conflict of interest policies; and respect for the dignity and beliefs of varied constituencies, including the people we serve.  

Additionally, we have led the way in developing tools to help individual institutions take on this important work and put into place practices to prevent funding hate. Through our Values-Aligned Philanthropy initiative, the Council has assembled resources and information for our members to assist in formulating grantmaking policies that reflect their values while importantly establishing safeguards that can help prevent charitable dollars from going to organizations espousing hate or extremism. The Council and our members recognize that the public’s trust is fundamental to the work we do. Our Values-Aligned Philanthropy work is one way we actively demonstrate our commitment to maintaining that trust. 

The Council’s commitment to rigorous standards is further reflected as the supporting organization for Community Foundation National Standards. More than 400 community foundations are accredited under National Standards, and this accreditation represents a commitment to best practices that exceed federal and state law and prioritize accountability and integrity. 

As the Council engages in this work, preventing the funding of hate and extremism is a collective responsibility we share with others in the philanthropic sector and government. We urge Members of Congress to support additional resources for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide appropriate oversight of the sector. Nonprofits engaging in inappropriate or illegal behavior damage the sector’s integrity and destroy the public trust that we have spent decades cultivating. And, if a nonprofit organization acts illegally, the IRS must act quickly to ensure that bad actors are rooted out. The inability to swiftly identify and penalize bad actors hurts the public’s confidence in the IRS and the sector.  

Witnesses at the hearing were asked by members of the Committee how they could address the rise in antisemitism. Witnesses indicated that increased reporting and public disclosure were among the remedies. The Council supports disclosure that serves the long-standing partnership between philanthropy and the public—but mandatory public disclosure of certain information could endanger nonprofits, their donors, and the communities they serve. The IRS needs the resources necessary to do the important work we agree is needed to ensure fair, robust oversight that maintains integrity in the process and the sector. 

The Council would urge the Committee to engage with philanthropy and the broader tax-exempt sector to have the fullest picture of its work and its impact in communities and congressional districts across the country. We urge the Committee to not take actions that will stifle the charitable giving environment, suppress an individual’s freedom of expression, or shortchange the charitable organizations many members of this Committee and the public support and benefit from.

We must be a collective voice against hate. The Council looks forward to working with the Committee to foster an environment that encourages and expands charitable giving, stands up to hate, and allows philanthropy to flourish. Thank you for the opportunity to submit this statement for the record.