Nonprofit Law Prof Blog

Thanks to Our Veterans

In honor of Veterans' Day, I am simply going to link to this CNBC post on its suggestions for the Top  Ten Charities for Veterans.   Of course, I have no doubt there are other worthy organizations out there - - feel free to mention yours in the comments.    In any event, thank you to all of our vets for your service and sacrifice.

 

EWW

 

The National Philanthropic Trust Report - All DAFs, All The Time!

The National Philanthropic Trust released its 2015 Donor-Advised Fund Report on November 9th.     NPT's report indicates that gifts to DAFs grew significantly in 2014, with assets held in DAF reaching a record level of $12.5 billion dollars.   NPT further indicated that that the DAFs it studied also demonstrated an increase in grants, with $12.5 billion in assets given away at a payout rate of 21.9%.   As discussed in this article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, however, there is fundamental disagreement in the field on how to measure DAF payouts - the National Philanthropic Trust, Fidelity Charitable Trust and statisticians at the IRS all use different methodologies.   Accordingly, we should all be wary about comparing apples to apples when looking at DAF payout rates.  

Certainly, this report is good news for DAFs as it shows the popularly of DAFs as a giving vehicle; it may also have the unintended consequence of encouraging further (already heightened) scrutiny.   The report is released at a time when serious discussion continues to occur regarding mandating minimum payouts for DAFs.   

 

EWW

 

Correction:   Thanks for the note in the comments, which indicated that total DAF assets according to the report were at $70.7 billion at the close of 2014.  EWW

LA County Leads the Way on Reimbursing Indirect Costs

According to Nonprofit Quarterly, Los Angeles County has adopted new beneficial rules regarding payments to nonprofits that contract with the government to provide services, such as social service agencies.

Anyone who has worked with charities that contract with the government (or anyone else, for that matter) knows that it is often very difficult for a charity to be reimbursed for the indirect costs associated with programming, such as utilities.  At the end of last year, the Office of Management and Budget recently issued a "super circular" addressing indirect cost reimbursement, clarifying issues regarding the applicability of these rules to all federally-funded grants and contracts, and reiterinat that it is not appropriate for governmental agencies to request waivers of these rights. 

Of course OMB directives can only govern grants and contracts using federal funds - clearly, all federal contracts, but also state and local contracts to the extent they utilize federal funding.   Strictly state-funded (or local-funded) grants, however, are not covered by the OMB guidelines.   Thus, LA County's adoption of the standards is a big deal for local nonprofits, and hopefully sets a trend for other state and local jurisdictions.

H/t to Jennifer Chandler at the National Council of Nonprofits, which has been active in this area.

EWW

 

Donor Control And The Gift Economy

Professor Allison Tait of the University Of Richmond School of Law has authored an interesting and thoughtful paper entitled The Secret Economy of Charitable Giving. In it, Tait argues that judicial reforms which ultimately limit the level of donor control over charitable gift and trusts should be embraced and expanded. Tait suggests that such limitations are justified in light of the wide range of both tangible and intangible benefits that flow to donors as part of the “charitable gift economy.” You can read Tait’s paper it its entirety here.