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Friday, March 23, 2012

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Today's special edition newsletter provides a recap of the 2012 ACR Summit for Leaders. ACR took to its new blog to write about each of the panels at the Summit. You can get a full wrap up of those panels by visiting the blog but we’ll provide a snapshot below.


Washington Roundup

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We will return to a fully-detailed legislative update in our next newsletter, but here is a quick recap of the last two weeks:

After returning from a one-week recess, news from the House of Representatives was dominated by the release of the Republican’s FY2013 budget on Tuesday, March 20th by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). Chairman Ryan proposes two individual rates, 10% and 25%, and called for the elimination of many “loopholes and deductions” as a way to pay for lowering rates so dramatically, but did not provide any specifics including what may happen to the charitable deduction. Interestingly, we understand that Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and his staff contributed to the tax portion of the budget, so while Chairman Camp has not yet released his tax reform plan for individuals, this could be a hint of what’s to come. (CONTINUE READING)
 


Event Recap

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ACR Summit for Leaders

ACR hosted its third annual ACR Summit for Leaders on Wednesday, March 21, in Washington DC, and it was a huge success. Over one hundred and seventy five foundation and nonprofit leaders attended  and enjoyed presentations on a range of topics that included discussions on transparency, congressional staff perspectives on looming tax reform, issues to watch out for in states, and tips for  building relationships with Congress and moving your issues.

The ACR Summit kicked off with a panel on transparency by Suzanne Garment, a scholar with the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, and Sue Santa, senior vice president for public policy at the Roundtable. Among the questions discussed: Should private charitable dollars be treated as public money, thus requiring more transparency? What kinds of information should be required by the government for disclosure and why? And what should foundations consider when engaging in voluntary transparency – the information foundations choose to share with the public?  The panel featured audience polling on perceptions about transparency in the sector. Based on the results, these nonprofit sector leaders think transparency is an important topic and definitely worth further discussion. This will be a timely and interesting issue to watch. For the results of some of the poll questions, click here.

Pat Read, formerly of Independent Sector and now consultant, prepared a brief and lively discussion of the top issues that are being raised by state legislatures and administrations that impact charitable organizations including private foundations. She advised that organizations should seriously think through their position and strategic objectives. She cited several examples, such as state governments revoking property tax exemptions in places like Illinois, California, Montana and others as reasons nonprofit organizations should be vigilant and aware of policy changes that could impact them. Pat also flagged a host of other issues emerging at the state and local levels for philanthropic organizations. Read more on this session here.

Tax reform will happen. Maybe not this year, but it will happen. Our panel of senior Congressional staff gave great insight into how this year on the Hill will progress and things to look forward to as we approach likely tax reform in 2013. As one staffer said, because the conversation about tax reform is ramping up, it is incredibly important to be part of that conversation now and to continue the work that organizations like ACR - and all the Summit attendees - are doing. Based upon this conversation with the Congressional staffers, it seems that ACR’s message (and the message expressed by our colleagues who are championing the same cause) that the charitable deduction is different from other deductions because it encourages us to GIVE AWAY our money and not spend it on something for ourselves is beginning to resonate. But we understand that challenges to the deduction persist, so our collective work on this issue is not done yet. 

The panel on ways in which nonprofit organizations can build relationships and move their issues was enlightening. Our experts included Evan Liddiard, former senior staffer for Senator Hatch; Cleta Mitchell, partner at Foley & Lardner and expert of lobbying law; Anna Palmer, reporter at Politico; Aaron Sherinian, VP of communications at the UN Foundation; and Sandra Swirski, executive director of ACR. Our objective was to focus on ways nonprofit organizations can move beyond the form letter when approaching their interaction with members of Congress and their staff, both in Washington, D.C., and in the home state or district. Each of these panelists brought unique perspectives from their areas of expertise. One message reinforced by all panelists was the need for the nonprofit sector to join together on certain issues as a way to amplify our voices in Washington. As readers of our newsletter know, ACR and our colleagues in the field, including both grantmaking organizations and charities, participate in a coalition to protect the charitable deduction. The coalition members have a wide variety of missions and interests but we’ve come together on this very important issue. Read what each panelist had to say here.

Following the Summit, attendees were treated to an interesting and timely lunch presentation on the 2012 election by Washington Political analyst, Stuart Rothenberg.

 

Thank you to all of those who participated in the ACR Summit for Leaders and Foundations on the Hill. Your presence Washington is a critical part of our collective effort as a sector to educate decision makers about the importance of philanthropic freedom, the value of private giving, and the significant role philanthropy plays in every district in this country. As Adam Meyerson, president of The Philanthropy Roundtable noted in his remarks during lunch “…philanthropy and charitable giving are central to American life, and public policy should encourage, not discourage, charitable giving. We agree that it is essential to protect the charitable deduction, which is so crucially important for the future of communities all across America. And we agree that it’s essential for philanthropists to tell our story to elected officials.”


The ACR Summit for Leaders was held in conjunction with Foundations on the Hill (FOTH), hosted by the Council on Foundations and the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers. Visit www.foundationsonthehill.org for more information.

In the News: For an interesting perspective on why lobbying days such as the ACR Fly In/Speak Out and Foundations on the Hill are important, read yesterday’s Huffington Post op-ed by Kevin Murphy, President of Berks County Community Foundation and Council on Foundations Board Vice Chair.
 

ACR Fly In/Speak Out

Our Fly In/Speak Out event on Wednesday afternoon was a great success. More than 40 foundation and non-profit leaders met with 40 congressional offices, including Senate Finance, House Ways and Means and Philanthropy Caucus staff. And we did all this in three and a half hours. During our meetings we underscored the need to preserve charitable giving incentives both in the current tax code and as we consider options for future tax reform. The afternoon provided a great opportunity to strengthen our existing relationships with Hill staffers as well as identify potential new allies.

Our message about the charitable deduction was well-received and the feedback was generally consistent. We hope that our efforts and those of all of the individuals and organizations that have been contacting Members of Congress on this important issue will result in the outcome of prior years – that Congress rejects the Administration’s efforts to limit the itemized deduction. But this is just our short-term challenge. As Members of Congress and their staff confirmed during many of our meetings, when they take on tax reform everything will go on the table, including charitable giving incentives

For more on the Summit for Leaders visit: www.acreform.com/blog.

 


Contact ACR at info@acreform.com.


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