Should Government Leave Some Problems for the Non-Profit Sector to Solve?

credit: Wikimedia Commons

Charity is good for the economy, right? Wrong, argues Elise Westhoff, president and CEO of the Philanthropy Roundtable.

In an interview with Tom Temin of NPR's Federal Drive, Westhoff says that while "there are many efforts right now to kind of coerce or coerce donors to give in a certain way," the non-profit sector is better at applying market forces to solve problems.

"We believe that will lead to less giving and less money going to communities in need," she says.

"So we're against any efforts that sort of force donors to give on a certain timeline," Westhoff continues.

"There's something called the [Accelerating Charitable Efforts (ACE) Act right now that we're watching closely that would target donor advised funds and private foundations.

And so we're trying to educate people about how that would actually have a negative impact on the charitable sector and on communities in need."

The ACE Act would force donors to give within a certain time frame, Westhoff says, "and oftentimes, people are calling for lists of donors to be made public.

And so we are working to protect that constitutionally upheld right to give privately, if donors choose to do so."

She also points to efforts to force donor disclosure Read the Entire Article

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