Public Policy

Call to Action! We need you — foundation leaders on the ground in your communities — to reach out to your Senators today and encourage them to support community investments now. As a constituent, your voice is invaluable! You can send an email to your Senators to urge the Senate Finance Committee…

The Council on Foundations wrote to the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this week to urge them to prioritize several regulations and guidance documents that impact our members. Each year, the Priority Guidance Plan identifies and prioritizes those tax issues that the…

@_____ #Act4Good by supporting the work of nonprofits; support the America Gives More Act #HR644 @_____ Help our communities and the nonprofits that serve them: pass the America Gives More Act #Act4Good #HR644 @_____ Communities served by #nonprofits deserve better; #Act4Good and pass the America…

News from the Hill Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would exempt donations to 501(c)(4)s, (5)s, and (6)s from the gift tax. As POLITICO points out, this would exempt a broad category of political organizations from the gift tax. Current law is ambiguous on whether donors…

The Council’s 2015 Annual Meeting is only a little more than a week away! Over the past year, Council has worked with members, colleagues, leaders in the field, academics, and many other important voices to lay the groundwork for a multi-year thought leadership project called the Evolution of…

Kim Bluitt, Member Relations Director, Pacific Q&A with Jonathan Lorenzo Yorba, President & CEO, The Community Foundation Serving the Counties of Riverside & San Bernardino, Now in its second year, Philanthropy Week in Washington, March 16-20, 2015, was a week-long series of events…

The Council’s legal team advised that a donor advised fund may make a distribution to another donor advised fund, without limitation and without the need to exercise expenditure responsibility. The technical explanation for the Pension Protection Act explicitly states: “A taxable distribution does…

For the first time in its history, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has expanded its mission to include promoting affordable housing for low-income residents who ride public transportation throughout the county.  Thanks to a voter-approved sales tax increase…

The Council’s public policy team is drafting Council comments for the working groups. We will share these with our readers once they are finalized. If your organization submits comments and is willing to share them with the Council, we would like to highlight excerpts in future editions of…

News from the Hill As a reminder, the issues that impact charitable organizations and individual donors fall within the “business” and “individual” working groups. The business working group, which will address tax provisions that impact the business and operations of charitable organizations, is…

2015 Highlights - Empowering Communities. Together. This year’s Philanthropy Week in Washington was a tremendous success. Thank you to all of you who came or added your voice by connecting with your lawmakers back in your districts. Lawmakers need to hear from you, their…

Philanthropy Week in Washington 2015 - It's a Wrap Empowering Communities. Together. This year’s Philanthropy Week in Washington was a tremendous success. Thank you to all of you who came or added your voice by connecting with your lawmakers back in your districts. If you have not yet sent a letter…

Philanthropy Week in Washington is Here! Empowering Communities. Together. Mark your calendars: the second annual Philanthropy Week in Washington 2015 kicks off this upcoming Monday, March 16th! As our readers know, Philanthropy Week in Washington is a week-long series of events and activities…

Philanthropy Week in Washington is 2 Weeks Away! Empowering Communities. Together. Mark your calendars: the second annual Philanthropy Week in Washington kicks off on Monday, March 16th! As our readers know, Philanthropy Week in Washington is a week-long series of events and activities hosted…

An engaged group of seventy funders came together January 27 for a learning forum hosted in Los Angeles by the Council on Foundations and Southern California Grantmakers entitled, “Politics, Policy, and Philanthropy: How Your Funding Priorities Could be Impacted This Year.” The 2016 election cycle…

A Vital Pipeline: How Donor Advised Funds Engage New Donors and Boost Communities Once again, commentator Alan Cantor has written a commentary on donor advised funds, this time for Inside Philanthropy. In the piece he reiterated comments he has made before, stating, “The surge in donor-advised…