All Global Grantmaking Resources

What are the legal requirements for private foundations wishing to make cross-border grants? What is equivalency determination? What is expenditure responsibility? How do I decide whether to use equivalency determination or expenditure responsibility? What are the legal requirements…

Private foundations wishing to make a cross-border grant must ensure that:The grant is clearly for a charitable purpose, andThe grant counts as a qualifying distribution for the purpose of meeting the foundation’s annual distribution requirement.The easiest way for a private foundation to satisfy…

Use this flowchart to determine if grants from donor-advised funds require expenditure responsibility.

Expenditure responsibility is a five step procedure that is designed to ensure that foundation funds are used for exclusively charitable purposes. The five basic steps that are required for completing expenditure responsibility include: Conducting a pre-grant inquiry including a reasonable…

Over the last two weeks, we’ve received scores of questions from the field about how to help the Ukrainian people during the ongoing Russian invasion, including during our recent webinar with the State Department. The outpouring of support and willingness to make immediate relief funds available…

In existence since the 1930s, donor-advised funds have been one of the fastest growing charitable giving vehicles of the past decade.[1] Capitalizing on this growth and on the increasing interest in international philanthropy among donors in the United States, a number of public charities have…

This page outlines the range of purposes that qualify an organization for tax exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It explains how the IRS and courts interpret key terms — especially "charitable" — and how those interpretations shape eligibility. Permissible Exempt…

Self-Defense Exception: A legislative proposal to modify the private foundation excise tax on net investment income under IRC section 4940 would qualify as a self-defense issue, because it affects a private foundation’s duties. Private foundations may therefore communicate with the legislature, its…